More about the book

Mental Speed Bumps is the remarkable story of an (almost) simultaneous discovery. Working on different sides of the world, in different cultural settings, Hans Monderman and David Engwicht both stumbled onto a radical new way to tame neighbourhood traffic.

Hans Monderman, a traffic engineer working in Holland , discovered that removing all traffic signs, speed humps, line markings and traffic lights dramatically reduced traffic speeds and actually made streets safer. The lack of signs and traffic control devices created a ‘mental speed bump' that slowed motorists, without them even being aware that they had slowed down. This new approach to street design has been applied in over 30 cities and villages in Europe .

David Engwicht, a social inventor working in Australia , noticed that a child playing on the sidewalk can be more effective at slowing traffic than a speed hump. He found that the speed of traffic on residential streets is governed, to a large extent, by the degree to which residents have psychologically retreated from their street. Simply reversing this retreat creates mental speed bumps in the street.

Mental Speed Bumps: The smarter way to tame traffic explains the full array of mental speed bumps and how they automatically slow drivers. It contains practical, down-to-earth ideas for residents, parents, health professionals and city planners. Some ideas are so simple they are child's play.

AU$29.95 (about US$23)

David Engwicht is one of the world's most innovative urban thinkers and is inventor of the Walking School Bus.

- More about David Engwicht -

- More about the book -

- View table of contents -

- See sample pages -