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Mind games can force drivers to slow down

A major report for the DfT reveals that 'psychological' traffic calming works, according to a recent article in The Observer.

Painting the road different colours, taking out white lines or planting things in the way of sight-lines on corners can be used to make roads look narrower, or bumpy or windy.

Drivers then feel less safe and drive more slowly - a principle adopted most radically in one town in the Netherlands which abolished all signs and road markings.

The four-year study by the Transport Research Laboratory found that many optical tricks were successful in slowing speeds. In simulator tests all speeds fell when the measures were introduced, some by an average of more than 4mph. And in one test average speeds fell by up to 8 mph, and the speeds of faster drivers by even more.

The most successful measures, likely to be used in future, were using red bricks to make the road look narrower and small areas 'built out' into the road with trees, shrubs or wooden posts, said the report.

The findings were welcomed by road and safety groups as the future of traffic calming. "This has been refined over the years, it's a lot more sophisticated now with speed cushions, chicanes and mini-islands. This is the next advance,' said RoSPA's Roger Vincent.

For the full story go to; http://observer.guardian.co.uk