Unsafe is safe
By Restless
Some cities in Europe are removing all traffic signs and lights entirely, thus in effect returning to the Middle Ages, where carts and people regulated themselves. This apparently is working in the cities it has been tried in so far.
The rationale is interesting as Dutch traffic guru Hans Monderman, one of the project’s co-founders says: “The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people’s sense of personal responsibility dwindles.”
Funny how things are becoming less regulated in some parts of the world, while ever more regulated in our corner of the world. More excerpts. . .
European traffic planners are dreaming of streets free of rules and directives. They want drivers and pedestrians to interact in a free and humane way, as brethren — by means of friendly gestures, nods of the head and eye contact, without the harassment of prohibitions, restrictions and warning signs.
The utopia has already become a reality in Makkinga, in the Dutch province of Western Frisia. A sign by the entrance to the small town (population 1,000) reads “Verkeersbordvrij” — “free of traffic signs.” Stop signs and direction signs are nowhere to be seen. There are neither parking meters nor stopping restrictions.
Psychologists have long revealed the senselessness of exaggerated regulations. About 70 percent of traffic signs are ignored by drivers. What’s more, the glut of prohibitions is tantamount to treating the driver like a child and it also foments resentment. He may stop in front of the crosswalk, but that only makes him feel justified in preventing pedestrians from crossing the street on every other occasion. Every traffic light baits him with the promise of making it over the crossing while the light is still yellow.
Strange as it may seem, the number of accidents has declined dramatically [in Darchten]. Experts from Argentina and the United States have visited Drachten. Even London has expressed an interest in this new example of automobile anarchy. And the model is being tested in the British capital’s Kensington neighborhood.
Jedi Master Spock — On 11-27-2006 at 2:11 pm
Careful design of roads to improve visibility and “trick” drivers into drivers the right way plays some part in the benefits of the traffic-sign free movement.
restless — On 11-28-2006 at 10:52 am
No doubt, though I have a lot of faith in drivers’ abilities to get along when left to their own devices. I do think they have a point on this: freedom mitigates certain anti-social behaviors caused by over-regulation and isolation.
On a possibly related subject, the system of charging drivers in central London for using the roads there during weekdays, in effect for a few years now, is interesting and I wonder if they couldn’t do it in New York and other congested cities of the world. Not that possible in Los Angeles because of the need to have a car just to get around and I never thought San Francisco city limits were ever that congested except for a short spate in the morning and the evening. The Brits are talking about supplanting the cameras now used to determine the cars that drive in the fee-zone with some kind of satellite tracking devices that would change the current flat fee of 8 pounds to a graduated charge depending on where each car went. Profits would go to better public transportation and bike routes.