Posts tagged safety

In the town of Bohmte, Germany, all roads signs and traffic lights have been removed in order to make the roads more of a “shared space”. Drivers negotiate their behavior with each other, rather than according to any rules or regulations. Since drivers have to pay more attention to each other than a green light or a road sign, in theory, there will be less accidents. “The many rules strip us of the most important thing: the ability to be considerate. We’re losing our capacity for socially responsible behavior,” said Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman in treehugger.com. “The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people’s sense of personal responsibility, dwindles.” Could this work in the United States? Maybe if we went through a couple of courses of road rage management.