Archive for April 29th, 2009

Via Good Magazine, the above image comes from architectural photographer Benny Chan, who will have a show called Traffic!, featuring large-scale overhead photographs of Southland freeway infrastructure at the Pasadena Museum of California, beginning May 31st.

Is that an IHop in the offramp?

Strange moment today. In the car, listening to Brian Lehrer talk about a flood of bogus “your car warranty is about to expire” robocalls that have been contaminating America’s cell-phone networks.

I park my car. I see that I have a message on my cell phone. I retrieve the message. A voice comes on “your car warranty is about to expire…”

If you’re a fan of Final Four-style brackets, and wonder how they might be applied to things like, say, Clint Eastwood films, I’d advise you check out The Final Four of Everything, edited by Mark Reiter and Richard Sandomir.

I’ve got a spread in there on license plates. Spoiler alert: Maine wins.

Viewing this video of a texting bus driver who rammed into another vehicle(s) on the highway, a few things came to mind:

1.) The passengers, it seems, saw him texting; did any feel empowered to say something?

2.) Although he apparently tried to deny it, he was caught in the act by camera; which makes me wonder how many crashes related to in-vehicle communication are not reported as such (and this by the way is a very typical distracted-by-mobile-device crash, giving one’s self a presumably comfortable “cushion” and then seeing that cushion instantly disappear).

3.) Psychologists suggest we feel risk more intensely when we feel it is out of our control. Does someone view this behavior with a more critical eye than than they would cast onto their own similar behavior — in which they may be operating under the “illusion of control”? E.g., the surveys that show a majority of people opposing texting while driving, and then substantial numbers saying they’ve done it.

(Horn honk to Hard Drive)

The law sends a strange message in Utah. If you hit someone while driving a car, and you’re drunk, it’s better to run. Even if you’re caught.

This state of Washington plan to help drivers pay off tickets is up there with Mitterand’s old traffic ticket amnesty programs in terms of its traffic safety benefits.

I love the simplicity of this Lego “Satisfaction Post” (满意柱) which apparently has been placed at an intersection in Shanghai to give passerby (pedestrians, presumably) a chance to offer feedback on how they think traffic is being controlled at that location.

The scheme is devilishly simple: Placing a red (!) ring on a peg is a thumbs-up, placing a blue means a thumbs down. The results are there for all to see (there’s also a suggestion box for written comments). A sign at the bottom says: “LEGO reminds you to please abide by traffic rules.”

(via PSFK.com)