I always thought Canadians were crazy with their hockey, drinking, two 50-yard lines, ice fishing, and drinking. They do a lot of stuff I don’t really get, but that’s why we love them, right? Well, now they might have gone too far.
In West Vancouver, officials are installing speed bumps made to look like children. Yes, you read that right. Like children. They’re using an optical illusion to trick drivers into thinking a girl is chasing a ball across the street, just to get them to slow down. As drivers approach the bump, the image begins to rise up. Once they’re 100 feet from it, the child will appear to be fully three-dimensional. The illusion costs $15,000.
This might work in a world comprised of only sane drivers, but, unfortunately, that’s just not where we’re at right now. Call me crazy, but isn’t this also training drivers to ignore kids playing in the street? At least make it look like a dog or a row of cones—literally anything but a human.
On the bright side, this is a great opportunity for any amateur graffiti artists in West Vancouver. The 2-D girls will be even scarier with fangs and mustaches.