Experiments with eliminating traffic signs.
The Wilson Quarterly has a very enjoyable article about traffic engineer Hans Monderman, a Dutchman. He’s an advocate for expanding the idea of a woonerf to include much of the road network, eliminating most signage.
“Do you really think that no one would perceive there is a bridge over there?” he might ask, about a sign warning that a bridge was ahead. “Why explain it?” He would follow with a characteristic maxim: “When you treat people like idiots, they’ll behave like idiots.” Eventually he drove me to Makkinga, a small village at whose entrance stood a single sign. It welcomed visitors, noted a 30 kilometer-per-hour speed limit, then added: “Free of Traffic Signs.” This was Monderman humor at its finest: a traffic sign announcing the absence of traffic signs.
The result of eliminating most traffic signs? Less congestion, less accidents, and a far more pedestrian-friendly environment. (Here’s a photo.) Like traffic-calming measures, you know it’s working when drivers complain that it feels unsafe. Driving should feel unsafe: you’re piloting two tons of steel at shocking speeds, whizzing past stationary objects that are mere inches away.
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