silent policeman

bilby commented on the word silent policeman

"The silent policeman is about to arrive in Alice Springs, much to relief of the town's mayor, Damien Ryan. It's been a difficult summer. Ryan admits the town he was born and grew up in has endured a rough few months. 'Security was not good here in November and December,' he says, nursing a cup of tea in his sunny office.

I'm confused about this silent policeman. What can he mean? I don't want to be the clueless blow-in from Canberra;

I want to understand and feel I should, given that I grew up in a place not much bigger than Alice, another dry inland town, miles from the ocean.

Eventually I just ask. 'The silent policeman, Damien, what is that?'

'The winter,' he says. He laughs when I'm obviously still mystified. 'People go inside,' he explains.

As the mayor sees it, on balmy summer nights things get rowdy in Alice Springs, to put it mildly. But winter nights are cold. People stay indoors. Alice Springs calms down."

- Katharine Murphy, Abbott's here to help in towns like Alice, theage.com.au, 30 April 2011.

April 30, 2011

maryw commented on the word silent policeman

In 1904 New York City, at (William Phelps) Eno's suggestion, installed posts at the centers of some intersections to help drivers "understand the necessity of passing around the central point." . . . By then (World War I) the most visible reminder of traffic regulation in American cities of all sizes was the intersection center-point marker, usually marked "keep to the right," so that motorists turning left would go around it. These markers went by numerous names, but the most common was "silent policeman."

January 23, 2020

ry commented on the word silent policeman

compare speed bump, speed hump

January 23, 2020