At GoKid our goal goes beyond getting people to use fewer cars and share their time; we also want to promote a healthier planet for our children by having cleaner air and safer roads. To that end, we love when we hear about others with the same goals, whether they are developing technology, or creating a better road crossing. Here are a few cool developments (and people!) we’ve recently heard about who are working to make the roads safer around the world.
3D road crossing designed by Saumya Pandya Thakkar and Shakuntala Pandya
3D Road Crossing – Sometimes a solution to a serious problem can be as simple as changing road markings. Saumya Pandya Thakkar and Shakuntala Pandya in Gujarat, India have come up with an urban solution to reduce accidents in a particularly crash-prone stretch of highway—road crossings that look 3D. The road markings, which are in reality completely flat, look like barriers in the road. Drivers will see the truth when they get close, but the hope is that the illusion will be enough to slow them down to a more cautious speed. Perhaps other countries should consider this creative way of slowing down drivers in high-incident areas and promoting safer roads.
Safe Speed App – Following the vein of slowing down drivers, just last month a group of teens from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania won an award from Verizon for creating an app called “Safe Speed” that is meant to slow down young drivers. The app, installed on the phone of both the parents and the new driver, alerts parents when their teen is speeding or is in a car that is speeding. Even as adults, we’re all more cautious when we know we’re being watched and this could be just enough to keep teen drivers alert and obeying the speed limits.
Youth for Road Safety (YOURS) – continuing the vein of young people taking an active role in safer roads, is the Youth For Road Safety organization. This cool global initiative has the goal of, “advocating for youth and road safety issues; inspiring young people and enabling them to network and share information; and developing young people’s capacities, their understanding and skills.” Educating kids about road safety (whether driving, riding, or walking) while they’re young is one of the best ways to raise responsible drivers. Among recent YOURS activities is their campaign in Russia which has received significant media attention and has been engaging children from kindergarten to high school in sessions that educate them on common dangers and encourage them to be careful and think about their safety on the roads.
Margo Grabie – creator of the DriveEasy app
Drive Easy – California entrepreneur, Margot Grabie, is on a campaign to end distracted driving. By giving out free window markers, she hopes to encourage drivers to write anti-texting messages on their rear windshield as a reminder to others (and themselves) that texting while driving is dangerous. She has also developed an app called Drive Easy that users can activate when they’re on the move. The app will discourage users from using their phones while driving by showing pictures of loved ones on the screen as a reminder of what is important.
Zendrive – If avoiding distracted driving isn’t enough, you can up your game with the Zendrive app. Using sensors on your smartphone, this app measures driver behavior such as aggressive or distracted and reports your trip data back to you so you can improve your own driving habits. It also can detect collisions and will automatically alert emergency contacts in the event of one.
We hope you are as encouraged and inspired as we were by these initiatives and developments in road and car safety. As you know, we at GoKid encourage you to share each ride. And when you’re driving: Drive less, drive safe.
