How
many times have you driven over a speed bump you had no clue was
even there?
Driving
along, perhaps in a neighborhood you may never have driven in
previously, checking the route ahead while also looking for whatever
brough you onto that road, and then boom. Suddenly everyone in
the car is bouncing around.
I’m
not saying you were distracted to the point of being unsafe. This
isn’t a warning about failing to read a sign posted at the side
of the road or missing the special paint design indicating the
speed bump was there, and you without question should have seen
the obstacle approaching. Maybe you were looking for a specific
address. Maybe you saw a moose in a back yard. I don’t know, but
I’m creating a scenario where your driving was perfectly safe.
Just…
boom… speed bump.
I
chuckle every now and again when areas look for ways to improve
the flow of traffic and increase safety. Absolutely worthy and
noble endeavors. And there are amazing things that a bit of research
and unlimited computer simulations can reveal and design.
Still,
a roundabout tossed into a community where a roundabout has never
existed before is usually going to come with a bit of an adjustment
period. I don’t know how many computer simulations build in a
few weeks of driver hesitation and confusion as part of the results.
Guessing it may not be many.
For
some reason, however, it appears that stop signs, red lights,
speed bumps and more are showing up as definitive solutions to
all of our traffic needs.
On
their own and fully developed, not a bad thing. Safety is important.
But done improperly, I find myself adding checkmarks to my imaginary
list of actions taken with no regard for the reactions created.
And I have offered these thoughts for different situations previously:
First
– Actions are followed by reactions.
Second
– Often the second shoe dropping is the more important part
of a story.
Let’s
go back to the roundabout.
Almost
all of us know what a roundabout is. I would venture to guess
that almost all of us with a driver’s license have experienced
navigating a vehicle around one. But I also know that roundabouts
are not a part of routine life in many places.
So,
you redesign the way traffic flows in an area. Red lights are
removed, or signs such as stop and yield are pulled out. The street
is switched up with the expansion of road, the adjustment of curb
location, and the addition of an island in the middle of it all.
New system might even suddenly phase one-way routes into or out
of existence.
Yeah.
In a city with no other roundabouts, good traffic numbers, and
a resident base that has been in place for generations, I guarantee
you some headaches are on the way. A breaking in period will be
necessary.
Or,
how about leaving those streets entirely? Have you ever adjusted
your planned route of travel because you knew of some changes
that took place that made things a bit more difficult or dangerous?
Without developing too detailed a scenario, the idea here is just
to understand that a sudden change to one road can very quickly
mean the problems being addressed simply moved two or three roads
over. Same problem, new location, nothing permanently fixed.
“They added three red lights on Main Street. Let’s use Central
Avenue instead.”
Everyone
is thinking the same thing, and everyone begins driving
on Central Avenue. Yeah, the new lights cleared things up on Main,
didn’t they?
The
point isn’t to eliminate stop signs, or to prevent them from being
added or removed from some locations. It’s to recognize that when
you initiate an effort, there will be a response to those actions.
That response may be nothing significant at all, and could even
work in perfect harmony with the intentions of the effort.
But
there will be times when the speed bumps of the world cause unintended
damages. It’s worth remembering that before stepping on the gas
to get things moving faster.