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London is Using Optical Illusions To Make Cars Slow Down (fastcompany.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: London has an interesting idea to curb speeding -- magic. The British capital has painted optical illusions on its streets as part of a pilot program to get drivers to slow down, podcast 99% Invisible notes. The idea is both pretty simple and pretty clever: use a little sleight of hand to paint the streets to look like they have speed bumps on them, but don't use finite city resources to actually build speed bumps into the road. The 18-month pilot program was launched in September of last year, according to the BBC, and the city is still determining whether the black-and-white stencils are as effective as actual bumps to deter drivers from exceeding 20mph (as if traffic in London ever goes faster than 20 mph).
I don't slow down in my pickup truck for speed bumps. I think the effectiveness of fake speed bumps depends greatly on what kind of suspension your car has and how little you give a fuck.
Yes, "buy, destroy and throw away" seems very much to be a part of American consumer culture. It is as if you guys think it is somehow "manly", whereas in many other countries it is seen a simply stupid. When you invest a significant amount of money in something, it is clever to take good care of it, so you can benefit from your investment for a reasonable length of time.