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.

Published by Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Char­lottes­­ville, VA, USA. more »

5 replies on “Experiments with eliminating traffic signs.”

  1. I thought I’d see this posted here. Good point, about treating people like idiots leading to them acting like idiots (that’s not limited to driving, I’d say). Unfortunately, this is all theory for us. Barring some sort of Mad Max oil free world, you’ll not see any real movement away from a system designed around the primacy of cars.

  2. I always figured that curlicue sign west of town was a hangover from the days of the artist formerly known as Prince.

  3. DC and NoVA went one better and created signage that actively misleads and taunts drivers, but sadly there’s at least as much idiocy in Washington as ever.

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