Several days ago, I noted a traffic experiment in Drachten, a Dutch city of 50,000, where authorities had removed most of the traffic lights, installed a number of roundabouts and counted on citizens to treat each other with courtesy. The experiment seems to be working there. The question I asked is whether a system based on courtesy could possibly be transferred to the United States? (See “The Role of Courtesy in Coping with Traffic Congestion.”)
Now comes an article from Spiegel Online, “European Cities Do Away with Traffic Signs,” indicating that the idea may be migrating to other European countries. In seven cities and regions around the continent, the European Union is testing some radical ideas: eliminating virtually all traffic signs entirely.
European traffic planners are dreaming of streets free of rules and directives. They want drivers and pedestrians to interact in a free and humane way, as brethren — by means of friendly gestures, nods of the head and eye contact, without the harassment of prohibitions, restrictions and warning signs.
It’s nice to know that the E.U., which has passed so many regulations in its short existence that its rule book now runs 85,000 pages, wants to deregulate at least one sphere of human existence. Whether the idea can work or not, I don’t know. It may prove feasible in homogenous societies where people share the same habits, values and ways of thinking. I am highly skeptical, however, that anarchy in the streets could be transplanted to an entitlement society like the United States. We are, after all, the country that invented road rage. Friendly gestures? I’ve got yer friendly gesture right here!
Still, I’m a great believer in experimentation. I look forward to seeing what we can learn from the European experience.
(Hat tip to John Kalitka for pointing me to the story.)