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Chaos is Harmony
I saw a clip on 'Beyond Tomorrow' the other day about a 'naked' traffic circle in the Netherlands. The idea was basically this: Accidents happen because people aren't paying attention. The solution at this round-about was to make the circle seem more dangerous. They removed ALL traffic signs, crossing signs, etc and replaced them with one rule: Cars must yeild to pedestrians and bicyclists. As a result, the number of accidents has dropped practically to 0.
Having spent the past three years working at a university campus, this makes a lot of sense to me. The most dangerous places for me as a bicyclist are the intersections with stop signs and traffic lights. Car drivers will just turn right without checking because they have the light and don't consider a cyclist or pedestrian might be going straight. They also rush up to a stop sign without checking for pedestrians and when they get stopped at a crosswalk, they're more interested in going than checking to see if there are any bikes entering the road. As a driver, I've bee guilty of this obliviousness too. But... At points where there are no signs, as a pedestrian I've felt less threatened by cars and as a motorist, I've been more alert of people and bikes that might enter my path.
Interesting food for though. Especially considering how it might be applied to other things.
Having spent the past three years working at a university campus, this makes a lot of sense to me. The most dangerous places for me as a bicyclist are the intersections with stop signs and traffic lights. Car drivers will just turn right without checking because they have the light and don't consider a cyclist or pedestrian might be going straight. They also rush up to a stop sign without checking for pedestrians and when they get stopped at a crosswalk, they're more interested in going than checking to see if there are any bikes entering the road. As a driver, I've bee guilty of this obliviousness too. But... At points where there are no signs, as a pedestrian I've felt less threatened by cars and as a motorist, I've been more alert of people and bikes that might enter my path.
Interesting food for though. Especially considering how it might be applied to other things.