Elizabeth Daigneau is GOVERNING's managing editor.
E-mail: edaigneau@governing.comTwitter: @governing
Idea Center
Empathetic Traffic Signs
A Massachusetts town solicited its middle-school students to design signs that would slow their parents and siblings down by relating to them.
Related Articles
If first you don't succeed, the saying goes, try, try again. That's what the town of Needham, Mass., did when traditional traffic signs near a middle school failed to slow drivers down. The town solicited its middle-school students to design signs that would slow their parents and siblings down by relating to them. The new signs bear slogans such as "Where's the fire? Slow Down!" And, "Slow Down!!! You may hurt the future." The idea is that seeing a child's handwriting and drawing will make parents relate to the sign in a way they never would have with traditional signage. Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick got the idea from best-selling author Daniel Pink, who argues in his book "A Whole New Mind" that being empathetic coaxes better compliance. So far, the unique signage has proved so popular that it's gone up in nearby neighborhoods, and has also been used at the town's Vietnam Memorial, where a sign reads "Respect their sacrifice. Please keep off monuments." To learn more, contact Fitzpatrick at 781-455-7512.
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for updates.
Twitter: @governing
Columns
- A Third Way for Public Pensions: Adjustable Pension Plans
- Defined-benefit plans put all the risk on states and localities; defined-contribution plans put it all on employees. Now there's a new approach to risk sharing.
- Bike Lane Battles Heat Up
- Cities like San Francisco and Chicago are running into resistance from drivers as they try to meet demand for more bike lanes.
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
Flickr
RSS
© 2011 e.Republic, Inc. All Rights reserved. |