by Eric Reiss - 1 March 2001

 

Stupidity or manslaughter?

A tall bus collided with a low bridge last night here in Copenhagen, resulting in two dead and over 20 others hospitalized. In fact, of the 57 passengers, only three escaped injury of some kind. The roof of the double-decker Swedish tourist bus was sheered off as it attempted to pass under an overpass near the center of town.

According to the Danish Department of Roads and Parks, the clearance of the bridge was properly marked, accompanied by a blinking orange warning light that is electronically triggered when a tall vehicle approaches. This was working at the time of the accident.

These are the "facts." But there's more..

Not the first time
It turns out that this is the third such accident within the last six months. One of the previous accidents also involved a double-decker bus. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries since the passengers were school children and their heads were lower than the seat-backs on the upper level. More disturbing, though (if today's rumors are to be believed), additional signage was not installed because it conflicted with the visual appearance of the glamorous new Royal Library just down the street.

Too soon to draw a conclusion?
According to Ole Bach, head of the Copenhagen County Department of Roads and Parks, "I don't think one should make any hasty decisions after such a serious accident. We need to find out why this happened and give it careful thought."

Personally, I think it's far too late to be drawing conclusions - the shortcomings of the "standard" design have already been proven through the deadliest sort of usability testing. Despite blinking lights and other safety features, you don't need a lengthy investigative study to figure out that the signage is inadequate - if it really worked, why have three vehicles (and several passengers) been decapitated?

With the opening of a bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark last summer, more and more non-Danish drivers are coming to our city - yet the signs are only in Danish. And if preserving the appearance of the Royal Library really took precedence over better signage, this design decision borders on "criminal negligence." 

Web designers take heed!
So what does this have to do with web design? Loads! Changing user demographics will invariably require changes in labeling and organization. Also, with more and more critical product information becoming available online, it?s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt because they didn't see some well-hidden web-based warning. Whatever the case, be warned - when design and "standard practice" get in the way of usability, the results can be devastating.

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