Creepy looking but if it works, that's great.

Oh fantastic. Now drivers will become immune such that they will ignore real children too. I swear, sometimes the level of stupidity that humans can exhibit never ceases to amaze me.

Where can I buy one? We have the same issue. Seems the bigger the car, the faster the driver.

I swear, sometimes the level of stupidity that humans can exhibit never ceases to amaze me.

If only other people were as smart as you, right?

Does that look like a city?

Hey Willy Bio, do you honestly believe that drivers will become immune to seeing kids on the street?

I swear, sometimes the level of cynicism that humans can exhibit never ceases to amaze me.

What a TERRIBLE idea! Imagine the implications of this from a "crying wolf" perspective. Sure, it might work for a little while, but for how long? Deception is rarely an appropriate strategy. How about cardboard signs posting the number of children killed each year by automobiles? How about more enforcement of speed limits? How about permamently removing a driver's license from anyone who injures a child through reckless driving? How about round-abouts? I mean, keep thinking here... there are better ways than what amounts to deceitful manipultaion.

There's that awesome Japanese trivia show (Trivia no Izumi) where they create trivia. One episode they wanted to know what the best way to scare away pigeons. They set up a test w/ a whole bunch of different ways to scare them, but by far the best one was cardboard cats (like the kid above). I guess drivers are a lot like pigeons...

I notice in our neighborhood that many of the speeding drivers are moms in SUVs trying to get their children to school or to soccer practice on time. Routinely I hear friends telling me how they had to "rush" to make it on time to school. I usually ask is being on time worth your life?

My point is that a cardboard sign isn't going to fix the problem. Peer pressure on your neighbors, friends and families by speaking your mind and yelling at those speeding cars even (yes, it can work) is likely the only thing that will truly help.

Silent protests (which is how I'd classify this) usually aren't the most effective method.

I have a similar problem on my street. There are cars parked down both sides and kids playing almost all day, but people come screaming down it. I'm not allowed to put a speed bump in, but I'd love a way to have a cardboard child pop out in front of one of those bastards.

this is green how? that better be recycled cardboard they're using!

I totally agree with Willy Bio. This is just a BAD idea. It will only take 1 driver to mistakenly assume that a REAL kid by the side of the road is a wooden sign to prove it. It's not worth risking an innocent child's life. Even more tragic if your child happens to look similar or be dressed similar to the one on the signs.

It would be smarter to have a cutout of a police officer holding a radar gun.

Ten points.

Hey Chinkfink, first off, not such a nice screen name.

Second, the answer is YES THEY WILL BECOME IMMUNE you dolt.

How many neighborhoods have the "children at play" signs and speeding A-holes who don't even notice them anymore? Oh, well, maybe, EVERY DAMN NEIGHBORHOOD? DUH?

Maybe you should interact with your fellow humans a bit more to know just how stupid, ignorant, and blind they can be. Or just make friends with a cop and do a ride-along a couple of times, watching the absolute insane things they catch people doing all the time. Yes, I have done this many times with a friend of mine, so I speak from experience.

Now think it through, examine how your screen name might offend certain people, and wise the F up.

lerxst you have a great idea there,

"It would be smarter to have a cutout of a police officer holding a radar gun".

Seems like a much better idea to desensitize speeders to the sight of a police officer holding a radar gun than a child by the road. It would also help to keep changing the image and its position regardless of what type of image is used. How about sasquach or penguins?

They should make the kids 12 feet tall so drivers would get the idea and kids could play inside it.

I always wanted a cardboard cut-out of a motorcycle cop pointing a radar gun sitting in front of my house.

And for the people that develop "immunity" to common sense (see above), go ahead and speed right by the cop. The more cops you get used to speeding by, the sooner you will be off the road.

P.S. I saw a cut-out moose in Canada, with reflective eyes. It worked on me at night! Although I wasn't speeding (VW bus), it kept my level of awareness up.

Scenario:

1) Speeder late for
2) Speeder sees toddler on edge of road, about to jump in front of them
3) Speeder slams on brakes, loses control of SUV, flips
4) Toddler turns out to be made of cardboard
5) Speeder sues Woods and whoever put the picture up for creating dangerous situation

Anyone doubt it will happen, and soon?

This wouldn't prevent me from speeding in the slightest. I dislike kids, and if one jaywalked in front of my car I wouldn't be to blame anyway.

Kids are also really bad for the environment.

what is the penalty for running over a cardboard cutout? are they hard to air for?

waaaa cars are so evil, so evil i must flog myself for driving one. screw the kids, seriously. Wasn't it Reverend Lovejoys wife who is always so worried about the children, a few les never hurt anyone!

Willy Bio, why are you so insecure about your intelligence?

HAHA! Thats not funny...
I can see the validity of both arguments. But can you really believe that if a few cardboard children go up around the streets drivers will start ignoring children alltogether?

Also, what the hell does this have to do with being green? Going slower in turn guzzles less gas?

I really dont think cars going to fast in our sad little suburban neighborhoods constitues the country taking on a policy of cardboard children guilting you into slowing down. How about telling your kid to not play in the street.

I have to admit its a clever idea

(Chuckle)

Anonymous chirps from random birds in a tree. You sure you can walk upright? :D

I want to buy one! I would go a step further though, I would install a motion sensor and rails so when a car approached the Cut Out would dart towards the street. Then stop suddenly at the end of the driveway just about the time the car swerves to hit my neighbors tree.

In my 'hood they don't care. I've seen kids walking or riding bikes in the street (we have few sidewalks for them to walk on) and cars fly by and blow the horn at the kids. Usually the ones that do it are repreat offenders and several neighbors have called the police on them but nothing happens.

How about card board cats, dogs, deer etc.?

I feel a "Children of the corn" prank coming on...
How would you like to look out your window and see 50 of these staring back at you.

Great idea.
A few suggestions. Use real kids to slow down motorists.
Have them play real time "frogger", and dart in front of speeding SUVs.

Eventually people will start getting mad, because all the brainless dolts of humanity will be killing themselves because kids were playing outside..

New campaigns appear accross the entire continent featuring irate SUV drivers demanding to stop the bloodshed. As part of the new "Kids Kill" campaign the Big Three Automakers, the NRA and the National Institute for Highway Safety all lobby congress to stop the wave of SUV dominated pedestrian and child related accidents.

Legislation passes to prevent people from having children, without out at least passing a mandatory "No Child Left Outside" liscensing exam. In addition extremist groups call for no more child bearing at all, ever, period.

We had a similar project in Denmark in the 1980s, where the police used a cardboard of a motorcycle officer - it worked very fine a few months - but the project stopped, and it never started again.

Wbr Lars C
www.plbrake.dk

I love when people think with emotions instead of logically. Really, this idea is extremely dangerous for children as people become complacent about 'fake children' near the street(and yes it can be proven that this will happen). Then you have the wasted fuel from people slowing down, just to speed up again. Why do people automatically assume that cars are more fuel efficient per mile at a slower speed, I would be willing to bet that todays cars are probably more fuel efficient at 50-70mph then at slower speeds, not to mention that as soon as they pass they are going to speed up once again causing more pollution and fuel usage. Then again in the USA this is very common as we use more signs where yield signs or better roadway design could be much more efficient. I wont' even get started on how retarded it is that we abuse traffic control devices as 'speed control devices'. And the same people are going to wonder why road rage seems to be on the rise, lets add just a little bit more stress to peoples every day drives and life.

Thank goodness they didn't put in 'inverted potholes' aka speed-bumps to slow people down, they are a safety hazard in many more ways then one, they slow down ambulances and fire trucks down by 13-15 seconds EACH, can damage vehicles etc, just look at the National Highway Safety Foundations findings and other research on the issue. Remember that when your child/mother/grandmother slips and falls by accident causing severe bleeding that could have been stopped if the ambulance would have been there just a minute or two earlier.

I think we should use grumpy and insulting interrnet naysayers as speed bumps It'll give them something constructive to do and they can actually benefit society.

Hey look! Seems I'm getting A LOT of backup here! Well, to those couple of dolts who chose to insult me, right back at 'ya! :D

I found that a burnt out hair dryer works great as a radar gun. It's reusing junk and slows the John Force want-a-be's on my street.
Dolt...that's such a harsh word.

How is this Green?

Just reading this, I’m already immune. If I see one, just knowing it’s been put there to manipulate me, I’m not only going to speed up, I’ll honk just to say frack off!

Putting a cardboard cutout of a child on your lawn to adversely affect traffic is selfish and anti-social. Can’t wait to see how the red state soccer moms are going to use this to their own advantage. How about having a cardboard cutout of a guy with a shotgun aimed out the back window of their Hummer so they can merge onto the freeway easier. Let’s try a cardboard cutout of a GMC Yukon so I can reserve my favorite parking spot at the mall and cardboard cutouts of homeless people pan handling in front of Starbucks so the line is shorter when I get there. Heck, let’s put up some cardboard cutouts of voters in line around the block in blue states to discourage people from voting, particularly those silly emissions standards. Then her husband at Texaco can film a public service announcement with lots of cardboard cutout employees bicycling to work in the background and claim they’re doing their part to help the environment.

The real problem is city/county/state planning that allow houses to sit close to the street without wide sidewalks etc, on main/primary traffic arteries. If you buy a house close to the highway…DUH…people are going to be speeding by. If you want a safer yard for your kids, build a fence. If you want safer streets do what it takes to it easier, faster and more economical to use public/mass transit.

How about using your vote and your money to put pressure on whatever municipality is responsible for transportation planning in your area to encourage public transportation and intelligently designed traffic infrastructures. Choosing actions that only create more problems and only serve to create an angry backlash do nothing but incite more conflict instead of creating an environment of dialogue geared toward finding solutions.

Final Thought:
[Mike Wood is going to lose his house soon enough. First, Joe Citizen is driving by sees this fake child out of the corner of his eye and slams on their brakes. Then Sue Civilian following closely behind him doesn’t have enough time to react and rear ends him. Their Insurance companies will have no problem proving that Mr. Wood willfully put the cardboard cutout on his lawn to cause drivers to slow down. Talk about opening yourself up to liability.]