Speeding cars are a menace in traffic. On highways, we can expect cars speeding up but, at least, in front of hospitals and schools, common decency dictates that we slow down. Yet there are a few drivers who forget to spot the road signs or the school ahead and just zoom past. It has been estimated that about 100 children are killed in the United States due to collisions while they are walking from or to school. It really makes you want to take some responsibility while you are driving.
Sometimes, when adults don’t come to much help, children have to save themselves? Noticing that there was no change happening in this state, two elementary school children stepped in, coming up with an amazing plan. They decided on painting – 3D crosswalk bars. This would create an illusion for the drivers as they speed towards it and it will make them stop or slow down so as to not collide with what appears to be bars on the road. Eric and Isa presented this brilliant design.
According to Isa, it is exactly the way she pictured it. Nate Swain, a local artist, painted the bars. According to Isa, while you can detect that it is a painting when you are walking, you will get deluded when you are coming from a distance in a vehicle. The impetus behind the plan was the near accident that Eric’s brother faced with a car. With the intelligence of the elementary school friends, now, it seems like such near-accidents can be prevented.
The two kids are active members of the Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility (CCSR) located in Medford. As per 10 WBNS TV, the organization which encourages the involvement of kids in community development.
The advisor of CCSR and a teacher in Brooks Elementary, Mike Coates, claimed that the kids engaged actively with bureaucracy of the city to make the project come to its fruition. He believes that the painting is quite effective. He also praises the achievement of the project – it shows how to stick to something and make it work.
Stephanie Burke, the Mayor of Medford, mentions how Civic Engagement is not about reading books but about making things happen. Once the success of the new project is measured, it can be emulated and made better.
3D crosswalks is not a completely new idea. Previously, Ísafjörður, a small town in Iceland used zebra-colored 3D crosswalks to slow down vehicles. In Medford, the city plans to install 3D crosswalks to three other elementary schools.
These children are developing a bright future for all of us. As adults, we should try to partner up and contribute to bring a better future for them and for us. That’s the least we, as mature adults, can do for others.