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Cardiff at the forefront of scientific research again...
Make streets more user-friendly for drunks
Jul 23 2008 WalesOnline
Redesigning streets to make them more user-friendly for drunks could help reduce conflict and violence, scientists believe.
Researchers are using computer simulations to mimic the movements of people staggering home after a good night out.
They hope to come up with street designs that direct late-night revellers safely home to their beds instead of into the path of trouble.
Scientists went on to the streets of Cardiff to get information about drunken behaviour they could feed into their computer model.
The team made 24 visits to the city centre between 11pm and 3am on Friday and Saturday nights, breathalysing people and monitoring their gait.
A quarter of the individuals encountered were found to be so drunk they were staggering.
Simulations were then run showing crowds in various states of inebriation trying to pass through a narrow alleyway to three different destinations.
When a fifth of the people were staggering, progress was reduced by 9%, while a whole crowd of drunks led to a 38% reduction in movement.
The scientists believe their findings have a direct association with the all too common phenomenon of fights breaking out at “chucking out time”.
“Drunks become irritants because they slow people’s progress towards their goal,” said study leader Simon Moore, from the University of Cardiff, who presented the findings last week at the International Crime Science Conference in London. “They may then become targets of violence.”
The researchers plan to investigate how moving street obstacles or increasing pedestrianisation might ease congestion around nightspots, New Scientist magazine reported.
The model could also be used to look at the effect of a new bar or fast-food outlet opening in a crowded city centre.
Jul 23 2008 WalesOnline
Redesigning streets to make them more user-friendly for drunks could help reduce conflict and violence, scientists believe.
Researchers are using computer simulations to mimic the movements of people staggering home after a good night out.
They hope to come up with street designs that direct late-night revellers safely home to their beds instead of into the path of trouble.
Scientists went on to the streets of Cardiff to get information about drunken behaviour they could feed into their computer model.
The team made 24 visits to the city centre between 11pm and 3am on Friday and Saturday nights, breathalysing people and monitoring their gait.
A quarter of the individuals encountered were found to be so drunk they were staggering.
Simulations were then run showing crowds in various states of inebriation trying to pass through a narrow alleyway to three different destinations.
When a fifth of the people were staggering, progress was reduced by 9%, while a whole crowd of drunks led to a 38% reduction in movement.
The scientists believe their findings have a direct association with the all too common phenomenon of fights breaking out at “chucking out time”.
“Drunks become irritants because they slow people’s progress towards their goal,” said study leader Simon Moore, from the University of Cardiff, who presented the findings last week at the International Crime Science Conference in London. “They may then become targets of violence.”
The researchers plan to investigate how moving street obstacles or increasing pedestrianisation might ease congestion around nightspots, New Scientist magazine reported.
The model could also be used to look at the effect of a new bar or fast-food outlet opening in a crowded city centre.
I'll drink to that!
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