[Sigia-l] Counterintuitive

[Lada Gorlenko]

GBd> Mr. Monderman's designs are indeed wonderful but, in my view, assume that
GBd> all participants in the shared-spare share a basic and necessary level of
GBd> social responsibility. The article makes a comparison to a tour in the
GBd> jungle but Drachten is far from a jungle. In a real jungle the rule of the
GBd> strongest applies and then the math is simple. Someone in a car of about a
GBd> 1000 kilos is 10 times stronger than any pedestrian.

It's more than just a road design - it's a social design.

The design might actually work - not universally, but in what known in
ethnography as 'feminine cultures'. Feminine cultures possess higher
level of social responsibility, lower level of aggressiveness, and lower
social pressure to display power (as opposed to 'masculine cultures'
that encourage competitiveness, aggressive behaviour, and winning
attitudes). Driving behaviour, after all, is just a side of our
behaviour in general.

Signs of no signs, someone in a car 1000 kilos is 10 times stronger
than any pedestrian. Whether they will still exercise their strength
to smash the pedestrian if no signs are around is another question.
After all, we all want to be safe on the road (and free from jail).
Stop on the red light when there is no road need for it and not
slowing down before a pedestrian crossing the road makes little sense
to me personally.

UK's driving theory test now includes 'hazard perception' part, where
15 one-minute video clips are shown. The clips contain one or more
potential 'hazard situations' - your typical road negotiations with
no signs around, cars pulling off in front of yours, and kids
appearing on a bike out of nowhere. One scores on the identification
of a hazard at the appropriate time (time window of about 3 sec, a
mouse-click is required when the hazard is first spotted; the later
the click, the less one scores).

Lada