An L.A. Councilman is attempting to blame the application Waze for neighborhood "cut-throughs", where people divert to side streets during traffic congestion.
In his view this is a new phenomenon that has never happened before, although it is widespread around the world and has been so for many years, certainly existing long before 'apps' became popular. The councilor is planning on using a data sharing agreement with Waze in order to strong-arm the application into becoming less useful, which will not solve the problem because people will just use other applications, and those with local knowledge will still know the quickest route from A to B.
The popularity of Waze is largely because it helps drivers avoid delays and to find alternative routes based on the the reports received from other drivers. Applying the measures that the councilor is hoping for will neuter the app completely, rendering it pointless. However, the councilor does make one good point - there are more pedestrian safety facilities (e.g. crossing points, barriers etc) on major routes and that the practice might lead to increased casualty rates in residential areas.
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Thursday April 30 2015, @04:10PM
That includes things like narrowing the streets [...] because wide streets with make drivers feel like it is safe to speed
Not necessarily... here is a suggestion to do the opposite [nytimes.com]:
To make communities safer and more appealing, Mr. Monderman argues, you should first remove the traditional paraphernalia of their roads - the traffic lights and speed signs; the signs exhorting drivers to stop, slow down and merge; the center lines separating lanes from one another; even the speed bumps, speed-limit signs, bicycle lanes and pedestrian crossings. In his view, it is only when the road is made more dangerous, when drivers stop looking at signs and start looking at other people, that driving becomes safer.
the rumbling sound that tires make rolling over bricks is disturbing
Hell no. Not in my backyard, not in anybody's backyard.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 30 2015, @05:05PM
>> Not necessarily... here is a suggestion to do the opposite:
Did you read your own link?
It says get rid of what makes it easy for drivers to feel like it is safe to speed - in that case signs regulating traffic that implicitly give cars the right of way.
> Hell no. Not in my backyard, not in anybody's backyard.
Spoken like someone who has never lived on a brick-paved road. I have in both Tampa, FL and Tyler, TX. It wasn't a problem. For one thing, much of the vibration noise is transmitted into the car by contact. For the slower you drive, the less noise your tires make. So not only does that give the driver feedback to drive slower but it also warns pedestrians when someone is speeding. Basically only bad drivers get noticed.