Martin Cassini's Blog Posts Tagged 'traffic-controls' (5)

(Also posted at Equality Streets). Traffic controls are removing the ability of drivers and pedestrians to think for themselves. A new generation of robotic, lobotomised road-users is increasingly incapable of acting according to context, relying instead on traffic controls to guide their behaviour. The new breed of pedestrian can’t cross the road…

Most junctions could be safe civilised spaces, but they are dehumanised by traffic experts. Instead of harnessing our instinct to take it in turns based on time of arrival, they make us live and die by rules of priority which impose unequal rights, make roads dangerous, and produce a "need" for traffic controls. It’s a circular argument incorporating a dead end. Government…

Sniffer dogs take their cues from their handlers and can be misled; sophisticated neuro-imaging lie detectors are prone to being outfoxed. "I enjoy devices such as brain-scanning lie detectors and hi-tech sniffer dogs," writes Ben Goldacre in his Guardian column, "because their appeal speaks to our desire for simple mechanical explanations in a complex world." The parallel with…

An experiment by two US psychology professors, Daniel Simons and Chistopher Chabris, involves a…

Out for a walk on Sunday afternoon, we wanted to cross a residential stretch of Kennington Rd. The traffic was light but steady. Was it about to slow down and let us cross? Was it f++k. We were near a pelican crossing and could have demanded a red. But we didn't particularly want to make the traffic stop, only for it to have to re-start. So we waited, half hoping someone would give way. But no, we had to wait for the entire…