We can paint parking spaces on the roadside to encourage on-street parking to squeeze the motorists' lane. One myth is that straighter, wider streets are safer. In fact, they encourage higher speeds. Narrower streets, in contrast, calm traffic. Vehicle speeds decline.
Drivers behave less aggressively and are more likely to obey traffic signs and signals.
Pedestrians are more comfortable. As their constituents have clamored for it, local officials in the United States and Canada have adopted traffic calming schemes in dozens of cities, and in dozens of forms. Many have worked well. Some have not. Indeed, most people might not recognize traffic calming if it bit them on the bumper.