Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/04/02/protecting-vancouvers-pedestrians-one-highly-realistic-foam-brick-at-a-time.html
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Reboing
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They should put 1 real brick in there just so folks don’t know what the pedestrian is carrying
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I like this idea! My neighbourhood is full of people in cars who don’t think stop signs and pedestrian crossings apply to them. Maybe carrying a fake brick would help.
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“Guys, it’s time for some game theory”
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That’s some clever thinking!
And it’s a damn sad statement that our civilization has to basically arm pedestrians (however theatrically) for them to get any respect.
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The age of car dominance is coming to an end.
Brick by brick.
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Lots of places have flags on sticks for this. How about a brick on a stick?
(carrying over from my discussion on the other thread)
I think what makes this work is not the threat of throwing a brick, but the “WTF, what is that guy holding?” that causes a driver to slow down and then in the next split second “oh yeah, this is a pedestrian crossing. Guess I’ll let them pass.” Some may get pissed and then speed up again, but that’s to be expected.
Again: not enough to make all stop, but enough to let more people across, I suspect. But… I also suspect the novelty will wear off after a while. After all, the real trick at most crossings is simply getting noticed without drivers getting too used to it and ignoring as background noise.
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Perhaps. But then something like an inflatable purple unicorn might be even better.
But I do think there’s something about the threat of violence that sends a signal right down into the driver’s lizard brain. Whether that’s a good thing, or might make some drivers scared and hit the gas, I don’t know.
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It’s worth considering. Except I think inflatable purple unicorns are more expensive and not as easy to pick up and drop off in a box on the side of the road. Cost and ergonomics also play a role in the choice, I would imagine. I kinda see the practical side of why the activists decided on the bricks.
Granted, this is all a little bit academic for me as I’ve been driving in Germany all of my adult life*, and Germany is pretty thorough about making pedestrian crossings safe. Instead, last summer was dominated by people gluing themselves to the asphalt to protest for climate change, but even those protesters didn’t get run over.
*with forays into Austria and Italy every now and then, but the last time I was behind the wheel in the USA was 2003, when I rented a car. Since then I’ve only been a passenger when returning to visit.
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Why not just a stop sign on a stick? Some may consider a brick menacing. Similar to open carrying a wepon
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