Optical Illusion Used To Slow Down West Hartford Motorists

WEST HARTFORD, CT — The town is employing optical illusions on two local roadways in an attempt to slow drivers down, part of its ongoing Vision Zero safety blitz.

The Town of West Hartford this week announced the installation of "speed reduction markings" on both Tunxis Road and Still Road in town.

These marks are, simply, short, vertical lines on the side of the road's center line and the bicycle path, sort of like a football field's hash mark.

But they have a purpose.

According to the Town of West Hartford and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, the lines are strategically spaced out "in a pattern of progressively reduced spacing."

It means, simply, that the lines are closer and closer together as motorists continue on a roadway.

What it does, according to town and federal officials, is "give drivers the impression that their speed is increasing."

Designed to trick the brain, the lines are aimed at getting drivers to slow down, especially as they approach a curve, where a lane-invasion and subsequent head-on collision could happen.

"These markings might be placed in advance of an unexpectedly severe horizontal or vertical curve or other roadway feature where drivers need to decelerate prior to reaching the feature and where the desired reduction in speeds has not been achieved by the installation of warning signs and/or other traffic control devices," wrote the town.

For example, the town said on Tunxis Road, these marks lead up to a pedestrian crosswalk and a school crossing guard post.

On Still Road, the markings lead up to the S-curve there.

Head-on collisions are some of the most dangerous accidents on roadways, with West Hartford experiencing a horrific, triple-fatal crash on Christmas Day in 2022.

That accident was the final act following a series of tragedies that year that prompted the town's "Vision Zero" initiative to pursue a policy aiming for zero fatal and zero serious-injury crashes in town.

From July 27: 'West Hartford Speed Camera Hearing Is Tonight: UPDATE'

From July 25: 'West Hartford's Motorist Safety Push Urges 'Stop Bar' Vigilance'

From July 15: 'West Hartford's Summer Safety Blitz Continues'