Here is an encouraging story about what can be achieved by a community that works together to make changes in their street.
DIY traffic calming
Here is a report on the BBC about it.
And bizarre a visit by Richard Hammond of Top Gear in the mix. I am told that Richard Hammond had no idea what was in store for him and that the residents had no idea who the presenter was going to be.
You can read more about the project on their blog, on the associated ‘road witch’ blog and also in a report by Oxford city Council. The project was the first of a number of schemes supported by the Sustrans DIY Streets project.
Incidentally… here is a great story with loads of pictures about the terrible sate the street was in for pedestrians some time back. (added following comment below – thanks).
Beech Croft Road some time earlier
Pedestrian Liberation 
Excellent post!
It’s nice that more people are beginning to understand this. After-all, what’s so unreasonable or extreme about not wanting to be killed when walking across a residential street?
Except the guy speaking at 1.38 in the first video, is looking at the problem from a car-centric viewpoint and really hasn’t a clue about the problems caused by traffic. All traffic divides communities and causes societal disruption. It is however true that traffic that drives too fast presents a severe problem. He is part of the problem, because he is in a state of denial.
The real answer is to stop all residential streets from being a cut-through for motorised traffic, with permeability for pedestrians and cyclists only. Exceptionally buses too, with rising bollards, but the bus drivers would need special education.
Just in case I haven’t posted these before, I believe these studies are relevant.
‘Driven to Excess’ by Hart & Parkhurst. http://tiny.cc/t4v7gw
Also ‘The Environmental Quality of City Streets: The Residents’ Viewpoint’ Appleyard & Lintell http://is.gd/frt570
What is also interesting and relevant is what the street looked like before.
This: http://web.archive.org/web/20080417185159/http://www.wormworks.com/roadwitch/pages/jackass1.htm