Whole Street Designs Traffic calming is a way to design streets, using engineering principles, to encourage people to drive more slowly. It creates physical and visual cues that induce drivers to travel at appropriate speeds.
Traffic calming is self-enforcing.
The design of the roadway results in the desired effect, without reliance on enforcement or voluntary compliance. Traffic control devices such as signals and signs rely on compliance. While elements such as landscaping and lighting do not force a change in driver behavior, they do provide the visual cues that encourage people to drive more slowly. Some of the goals of traffic calming are clearly measurable such as increasing safety through fewer and less severe crashes. Others such as supporting community and livability - are less tangible but equally important.