Optical Illusion Slows Down Speeders Outside Elementary School Thanks to Two Clever Kids
Keeping kids safe should be at the top of the priority list for both parents and the schools their children attend.
Many schools have updated safety standards over the years. Even so, times are changing and it’s up to us to keep learning and discovering innovative ways in which we can raise those standards even more.
One school in Massachusetts has taken innovation to an entirely new level. Thanks to two brilliant kids who attend Brooks Elementary School in Medford, the crosswalk just got an upgrade.
Ten-year-old Isa and her friend Eric decided they needed to come up with a better way to encourage cars to slow down in the school zone.
According to WBZ-TV, Eric’s brother “had a close call with a car,” motivating the young mind to think outside the box.
Or, in this case, think outside the crosswalk. With the help of the Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility, where the kids are encouraged to take part in their community, Eric and Isa formed a plan that would make their crosswalk bigger and better than ever.
A proposal for the project was sent to Mayor Stephanie Muccini Burke, according to 11 Alive. She got on board and invited Isa and Eric to present at a February Traffic Commission meeting.
“Books don’t teach you this,” Mayor Burke shared with CBS. “Civic engagement is something that you see happen. You see success, and then you try to emulate it and do more.”
After a year of waiting and planning, local artist Nate Swain was finally able to put the kids’ idea into action. Now the 3D crosswalk will hopefully make drivers pause before speeding past.
“I love it,” Isa told CBS. “It looks amazing. Exactly how I pictured it and more. When you’re walking across you can tell it’s painted, but what we hope is, when you’re driving down, you’ll see it as 3D, three dimensional. So it looks real.”
The photos certainly make it appear so. Are those big white blocks in the road? I might think so if I were driving by.
Brooks Elementary teacher and CCSR advisor Mike Coates could not be more proud of his students for coming up with the concept.
“I think it’s great,” he told CBS. “It certainly would make me stop. It’s a great example of them sticking to an idea and going through all the steps and talking, in this case, to all the adults and all the powers that be.”
Plans have been made to create additional 3D crosswalks in the area. Would this make you stop? Would you like to see something like this implemented in your local school district?
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