In case you're wondering, "Verkeersbordvrij" means "free of traffic signs," and the policy of no traffic rules whatsoever has already become reality in Makkinga, in the Dutch province of Western Frisia.
Seven cities and regions in European Union are also adopting the measure to remove all traffic signs. Read about the chaos, er... the free and humane interaction between drivers and pedestrians here .
I think it is very telling that the article mentions a demand for "streets like those during the Middle Ages, when horse-drawn chariots, handcarts and people scurried about in a completely unregulated fashion."
I always worry when people harken back to the idyllic ways of the Middle Ages.
11 comments:
If they tried this in Houston, anyone not driving a Hummer would be dead in the first week. Unless you had an army tank.
I just moved back to the US from Holland, I see it working better there...but I can't see it being a really great idea. There will always be the people who think "rule free" means that they can totally take advantage of the situation.
Oh, boy. The middle ages were SO civil, huh? Let's just stop paving the roads, too... Geez.
Actually, brooke, I think making the roads crappier would at least slow most people down quite a bit.
How on earth are intersections handled here?
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staci: heh heh. A hummer or a tank indeed.
brooke: the whole traffic rules psychology thing sounds like hogwash to me.
b.w.: according to the article, intersections would be handled with kindness and humaneness on the part of drivers. yeah, right.
i must wonder who really pays ANY attention to road signs? anyway.
there is an intersection i go through EVERY morning where i'm free to pass through at 40 mph and the cross traffic must stop. i'm the only person so far that i've seen actually slow to that speed and of course the cross traffic stops.
i would quit driving if they removed the signs. my husband will gripe if somebody runs a stop sign but go 70 in a 55. guess people were not put here to understand.
nanc: I follow street signs...most of them anyway. I also use common sense. If I'm approaching an intersection and the other person has a stop sign, I don't assume they will stop. I make sure they stop before driving through.
"I always worry when people harken back to the idyllic ways of the Middle Ages."
Well put!
jen: thanks. I try ;-)
From reading the sign I thought it was in Belgium where I used to live, but wondered where all that sand came from!
s.h.: the beach? ;-)
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