Safe Speed Forums

My suspicion (no more than that) is that the kids in the experiment were not threatening enough to represent a 'real' danger in the drivers minds.

I know I'm aware as a driver of where pavement children's attention seems to be. If they were looking at someone on the other side of the road (for example) the alarm bells would ring loudly.

I'm guessing that if the experiment were re-run with such a scenario we'd see very different results.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Precisely. On a fairly wide road with few or no parked cars and good visibility, one can see children in good time and fiure out what they're going to do. It's the ones you can't see until it's too late that are the problem.
Anyway, IIRC, this study took place in New Zealand. Could it be that kids are better behaved there, and/or visibility on the roads is better?

Regards
Peter

Sort of! What I was trying to say is that, due to 'peer pressure', risk of undue punishment, or simply misinformation, there is an expectation that we should behave in a certain way in certain circumstances whether it is necessary or not, and the real reason for the action gets forgotten, then it becomes an absolute rule that some people (for a lack of reasoned thought) follow.

The way some people in here trumpet always rigidly complying with the speed limit even although they and everyone else knows that driving conditions are not rigid and unchanging.

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with very cold high-pressure water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result -- all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted. Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm!

Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. None of the monkeys that are beating him have any idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey. After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not?

Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done around here.

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If nothing else works, then a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.

Which is precisely why you should question everything!

Right... Too many monkeys.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety