Anamorphosis: A Cool Way to Promote Child Safety in BC

How do math and art combine to preserve health and safety, as well as bring awareness to drivers to slow down while driving through school zones?  Through anamorphosis--a distorted image that only appears in natural form under certain conditions, as when viewed at a distance or from a particular angle.

The safety advocacy group Preventable.ca hopes that, by using an anamorphic image of a child running out into the street after a ball, drivers will be reminded to slow down their vehicles at that moment, and anytime they may be driving through a school zone.  The image, placed on 22nd Street in West Vancouver, British Columbia, is of a girl picking up a pink ball.  Mathematically distorted, it can only be seen from the distance of 100 feet away.  The image is strategically placed to pop up as drivers approach; any closer and drivers can tell it's an illusion.  Hopefully they slow down to look more closely.

The technology is made from 3-M concrete sidewalk vinyl, and stretches for 40 feet. Because of the distortion, the head of the child is 400 percent larger than the feet.

Anamorphosis is not a new art form--Leonardo da Vinci is said to have created the first anamorphic art piece in Western civilization in the 15th century. 

Preventable.ca will leave the sticker on the road for a couple of weeks, but the sticker can stay on the road for between three to six months before it succumbs to environmental wear and tear.

Good job, Preventable.ca, and good job Canada.  I can think of lots of other good uses of anamorphic art, and I'm sure you can, too (pitbull on front door, hmmm...).  For more anamorphosis, check here.  Enjoy.

Driving Under the Influence

Driving under the influence is a crime, but some researchers think we should make an exception...for the ADHD driver. Doh! According to research recently present to the American Psychiatric Association, adults with ADHD are more prone to auto accidents. So to combat this phenomenon, researcher recommend ADHD drivers to be cranked out on speed. Nice.

The study showed that adult ADHD drivers had significantly more auto collisions than the general public and received more citations. ADHD teens and adults have also been shown to be nearly twice as likely to having their licenses suspended. According to UC Berkeley psychologist Nadine Lambert, Ph.D., "People with ADHD have serious difficulties planning ahead, following through, and staying on task—things you need to do to drive safely.

Apparently ADHD drivers are more likely to be convicted of speeding, not obeying signs and signals, following too closely, improper passing, and not following road markings. Additionally they're somewhat more likely than non-ADHDers to participate in reckless driving, drunk driving, and poor lane placement.

So what's the solution? Give 'em speed. Now that's responsibility in the psychiatric research profession--recommend drugging our drivers, yeah! I'm never for the drugging solution, especially when it comes to mental health. Instead of encouraging our unfocused fellow citizens to develop good driving skills, we resort to the simple solution--drugs. I'm not anti-drug, but giving legalized speed, and that's essentially what these ADHD drugs like Ritalin are, is foolish. It's not going to make one a more attentive driver. Why don't we just put a kilo of coke in their trunk--that'll make them pay attention--guaranteed. But no one would seriously suggest that because it's nonsensical. And so is drugging our drivers.

I deal with a lot of auto accident victims in my Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood chiropractic office. Accidents caused by people under the influence are some of the worst I see. If the general public is considered impaired even under the influence of cold medications, why recommend speed for ADHDers? The use of drugs to treat mental "disorders" will remain somewhat controversial for years to come; but let's hope cranking out our ADHD drivers won't cause more problems than they fix.