Slowing down in Victoria could soon earn you a smile.
Victoria is shopping for solar-powered, radar speed display signs and is asking for ones that have a “smiley and frown display.”
Last year, while discussing methods to improve motorist buy-in of lower speed limits, Mayor Lisa Helps suggested staff look at “out of the box” options such as signs that have the capability to flash a frown at speeders and offer a smiley face to those travelling under the limit.
It appears city staff have taken the suggestion to heart.
A request for offers has been posted on the city website. Among the specs: driver-responsive messaging, a yellow backboard, a minimum 14-inch-digit size, universal mounting and a pre-programmed smiley and frown face display.
“Awesome,” Helps said when told of the request for proposals.
“You know what? It works,” Helps said, adding that the last time the Times Colonist reported on the suggestion, it “generated an enormous amount of criticism.”
“But I don’t care, because it actually works. With simple things like that, people like to feel happy and people don’t like to be frowned at. It’s human nature,” she said.
“So if that can come in at the same cost for ones that just say you’re going 41 instead of 40, then bring it on.”
The request for offers says the city plans to install radar speed signs at various locations and wants the flexibility to change sign locations in the future.
So it’s looking for prices on solar-powered radar speed signs but might also want to purchase wired and dual-powered signs.
“The city will select the best combination of price and features based on neighbourhood, traffic and budget considerations and may select different units from multiple offers if it is in the city’s best interest,” the posting says.
In 2014, councillors amended the streets and traffic bylaw, reducing speed limits on several city streets to 40 km/h hour from 50 km/h.
Council reduced the speed limit on Cook Street between Southgate Street and Dallas Road to 30 km/h from 50 km/h. The objective was to make streets safer and to reduce the number of collisions.
However, motorists have for the most part ignored the new posted limits.
Traffic monitoring in 2015, when compared to 2014, showed the reduced speed zones were having only a minor impact on vehicle speeds — an average two per cent reduction in speed — with average speeds still above posted limits. Collision rates have not dropped in the reduced-speed zones.
B.C. Transit has complained that the lower limits make it difficult for buses to stay on schedule on some routes
Council last year decided to step up both education and enforcement of the new limits. The new radar speed signs would be part of that initiative.
