Speeding @ MindSay

Today should go really fast.  I haven't had caffeine since I got sick.  Having my second cuppa joe right now.  My body is on overdrive! Woo Hoo!!!!  As you can tell, my life is sad if I'm excited about a caffeine buzz . TGIF!

I was driving to work today, at Hamline. The campus sits between Hamline Ave. and Snelling Ave. Because of the insane traffic on Snelling, I always take Hamline. From the Interstate I cruise north for about 10 blocks, through quiet neighborhoods and then cut over to the campus.

Today, coming in to work, I was driving down Hamline when I started noticing these street signs. They were at regular intervals and are about the size of a speed limit sign (intentionally, as it turns out). Each one was different from the next and they were all done with different images of abstract art. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had no idea what they were there for; I hadn't noticed them before.

Curiousity got the best of me and as soon as I got to work I looked it up. You can read the article here. Turns out, they are an art project, created by a local artist, in conjunction with the city to help slow traffic in these quiet neighborhoods.

The idea is that people will notice the signs (they definitely stand out) and will slow down in order to view them better, making the streets safer for all. The fact that they are the exact size as a speed limit sign is deliberate, a sort of unconscious reminder to slow down.

I've got to hand it to them. This is the single most creative idea for slowing speeders that I have seen. It certainly worked for me. Not that I drive like a madwoman anyway, but I was definitely creeping along more slowly once I noticed the signs. The artwork is pretty cool and I just wanted to see what was up next.

Couple things though, once people have seen them, won't they then become part of the daily scenery? And, what about drivers after dark (ooh, cool band name)? The signs aren't lit up, so I don't know how they'll play in the evening hours. I guess I'll have something to watch for on my drive home.

But if you're out for a leisurely drive, I'd recommend driving down Hamline Ave. north of 94. (Also, Thomas Ave, as the article mentions, but that's not on my route...so I can't vouch for it). The art is definitely worth the look, even if the experiment doesn't fulfill its true potential.

I was driving to work today and I am cruising down the interstate going about 5 miles over the speed limit. No big deal, then all of a sudden people start slamming on their brakes. The guy to my right almost rear-ended the guy in front of him. So I start looking around and sure enough, there is a State Patrol squad on the shoulder. He must have just finished ticketing someone as he was just merging back into traffic.

Immediately, every car in the vicinity started driving like absolute idiots. No one went more than 5 miles under the speed limit. Which makes life tres annoying for me. I mean, I get that no one wants a ticket, but the limit is 55, which means you are ALLOWED to go 55!

Fine. Now we're putt-putting along down the interstate and this trooper must just love how he impacts people as he drives around. Then we approach one of the busiest areas of the city (called Spaghetti Junction for a reason) and with all the roads coming in and out people are merging onto our stretch like crazy. And traffic gets worse because of the trooper. All these cars come roaring onto the interstate and when they see him, they slam on their brakes. All of those tailights looked like they were sending a message in morse code. Of course, my knot of cars slowed down even more...until we were doing 25 on the freaking interstate! And traffic wasn't that heavy, traveling 55 wouldn't have been like courting disaster or anything.

So I am forced to wonder...is having the police out in traffic more of a hazard to our roads than not? Yes, people slow down when they see a cop, which is good, but if reflexes were a second slower or if just one of those drivers  was lighting a smoke or changing a radio station at that moment, we could have had a massive accident.

Yes, fine, I might be overreacting. I am good at that. I will admit that I was uber-annoyed at having to drive amidst all those idiots. Plus, I really don't like driving under the speed limit, and I HATE being crowded on the roads. Give me my space and let me do my thing. If everyone drove like that.....well, I am sure we all feel that way. But to get back on point, isn't there some validation to my theory? People do tend to drive foolishly whenever they see a cop on the road and foolishness never leads to anything good.

*Disclaimer* I am in no way advocating that we remove the police from the roads. I have the utmost respect for them and the job that they do. I would be willing to suggest that a better solution would be to remove all the idiot drivers from the road. That would sure make for a lot less traffic accidents, no?