Oct 5th, 2017: Crosswalk

What the hell is that? It’s a crosswalk, see the sign, says so right there.



The thriving metropolis of 2550 people, Ísafjörður in the Westfjords region of Iceland, has a speed limit of 30 kmh (18.6 mph).
The environmental commissioner Ralf Trylla, thinks that’s way too fast, and like many public "servants" has looked for ways to
impose his opinion on the public. To that end he was researching ways to slow traffic without actually asking the pubic.



Ralf saw these had been used in India, Russia, and China so he recruited Gautur Ívar Halldórsson, the manager of Vegmálun GÍH,
a road painting company to give it a try. Gautur had his men do a few practice crosswalks until they figured it out.
Then Ralf buttonholed the Police and the Transport Authority for permits and painted this one.



Must be one way streets because although it will fool birds, traffic coming the other way, not so much.



Of course drivers will only be fooled once, and they may slow down a second time to gawk, but that about it.
There has to be all kinds of reactions from angry about the waste of money, to entertained by the novelty.
The municipal council has not decided whether there will be more.

link

Ten years ago I lived in a village in the Netherlands. At one of the dangerous cross roads on the edge of the village they did a similar thing, painting seemingly 3D obstacles on the road. Even after you knew it was just flat paint, it still caught your attention each time and made you think about slowing down

Hi Sandy, nice to see ya. :hug: OK, so even though you got used to them and knew they weren't a hazzard, they still made you think about why they were there.

We have had several artists on IOTD over the years that do these for fun. I like them.
I think that once the road guys get the hang of it, they are not much more expensive than regular ones.

sandypossum;996750 wrote:

Ten years ago I lived in a village in the Netherlands. At one of the dangerous cross roads on the edge of the village they did a similar thing, painting seemingly 3D obstacles on the road. Even after you knew it was just flat paint, it still caught your attention each time and made you think about slowing down

A well-constructed optical illusion works even when you know it's an illusion.

So even though you know it's an illusion you'll get nervous walking this hallway?