Speeding cars plague many towns and villages. They pose a danger to residents and animals. Some drivers cannot be deterred even by signs warning of a reduced speed. However, there are things that make drivers like to slow down, and it’s not just billboards with half-naked models, but also flowers. The wildflowers are so beautiful that many drivers will slow down to look at them.
Wildflowers used to slow down drivers
The village of Long Newnton in Gloucestershire has a problem with fast moving through-traffic between nearby towns. Drivers are speeding through this British village and officials are at a loss as to how to get them to slow down. In the end, the solution appeared all by itself. During the pandemic, wildflowers were planted along the roads to increase biodiversity. When the wildflowers were planted, they not only attracted an abundance of wild animals, but also forced drivers to slow down. Wildflowers have a better effect than road signs telling you to slow down.
“Evidence has shown that if you introduce things like wildflowers, drivers will slow down because they feel like they’re coming into somewhere that’s looked after,” said Jenny Forde, cabinet member for health and wellbeing at Cotswold District Council.
A program was created to finance the care of wild flowers
Local villages receive little funding from the government to control traffic. So a crowdfunding campaign was launched, which has raised almost £8,000 for the traffic calming measures, which will be used to fund a three-year wildflower care programme.
A sign has also been newly installed in the village that flashes and can record drivers exceeding the 30mph speed limit. It turned out that 90% of drivers here exceed the speed limit. Planting wildflowers is a great idea to help biodiversity and make drivers slow down. Other villages that have a problem with fast and reckless drivers can be inspired by this idea.
Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-62304096
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/village-tackles-speeding-by-planting-thousands-of-flowers-after-noticing-drivers-slowed-down-as-they-passed-them/
Image credit: Pixabay.com
