No Simple Fixes To Traffic Woes: BENN

Most traffic measures are location specific. Traffic engineers will tell you that a stop sign on a long straight away is but a moment in time.

Many drivers speed up after coming to a stop to make up for lost time. Thus the decision to not put in unnecessary stop signs. The same set of traffic engineers will put in place much more expensive ‘solutions’, such as speed bumps. From which some drivers speed up after crossing them to make up for lost time. The same applies to community safety zones with speed cameras. Once past the sign that says the zone ends here, some drivers press down on the throttle to make up for lost time.

Driver behaviour is complex. Need for speed. Running late. Disagreeing with set speed limits or flouting authority. Not paying attention to road signs. The list goes on. Who knows, there may even be a fourth-year psych course devoted to the topic.

There are no simple solutions to complex problems. Yet that is what politicians, city staff and other self-interest groups want the public to believe, but in reality, all they are doing is preaching to their echo chamber.

Ron Benn, a finance executive, has been a member of the Centrepointe Community Association for the better part of three decades.

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