Europe to become free of Trafic Signs....

Reading this (from spiegel.de/international), I understand that some people have come up with a "great" idea. They want to make away with [stag]trafic signs[/stag]...


Reading this, make we wonder if the people makeing these decisions actually driver [stag]car[/stag], [stag]motorbike[/stag], [stag]bicycles[/stag], or just walk. Most people who move around in the trafic tend to ignore trafic signs in the first place, do they actually think that removing them will help!!


Living in a country where most indicators (you know the flashing things which will tell other people that you intend to leave the road, or change lane) are broken (even on new cars), this will not really help.


But it will probably save them some money on the budges, which will then be spend on mending people in hospitals instead, but that is a diffrent budget.


Also reading that Makkinga (some please in the Dutch province of Western Frisia) have done this, is kind of scarry.. But the worst part is that they will replace the tarmac with cobblestones instead is frightening; that will cause some broken bones for motorbike riders - these thing are slippery when they are wet, and it will cause acidents. But who cares it's only a motorbike rider... praise to stupidity

Comments

Burt Wessner said…
One response to the knee-jerk "You can't do that! We'll ALL DIE!" reaction is this analogy. Think "traffic sign overload" = "safety of a stable"... and then step this direction - being - isn't it amazing that if a barn catches fire, horses who are freed from the barn will run right back into it - even though it means their deaths.

Now, tha absence of our snuggly traffic control security blanket could be scary to some... but do you think that might be because we have been so well trained not only to pay attention to traffic control implements, but to regard them as the only thing that protects us from traffic chaos?

If you believe that governmental traffic control IS the only thing that protects us from a bloody chaos on the roads, think about where you developed that notion (over these many years of indoctrination). Think about how that reliance on the traffic control system may have atrophied the other world coping mechanisms you may have within you, namely a propensity for cordiality (at least when driving) among others.

One other thought... another traffic situation, a pedestrian one, say the packed shopping mall before Christmas... operates rather safely (albeit at lower speeds... which MIGHT just be a POINT) from a collision standpoint. Why would one not think that a different traffic situation, simply because it has much larger and faster hardware involved - cars and trucks - couldn't be as collision free?
Alphast said…
Well, I think that Casper didn't meant we'll all die. Only the poor ones driving motorbikes like him... And, fair enough, government endoctrination or not, whatever the speed, a biker will be even more in danger of being hit by a car without traffic signs than with them. The density of traffic is high in many countries, and nobody can safely say that we can rely on the notoriously undisciplined drivers to pay attention to smaller and thus less visible motorbikes. So, unless you have anything better to propose to avoid this issue, I believe Casper is right to say that this idea is at best utopic and in the worse case criminal...
Casper said…
Actually not all trafic signs are good, but not having any isn't that great either. I've been in places which where so cluttered by trafic signs that it actually made it worse than not having any (also saw a photo from NYC some years agoe which showed a sign post with so many trafic signs that it would take hours to figure out what actually was allowed).

The reason behind trafic signs is to guide people (no matter what means they travel by) in a orderly way so that every one know what to do, not having any can cause disorder, and in the worst case cause some people to get into trouble.

No matter which side one is on, always remember there are reasons for having these things.

And no, I do not think that we will die, but not having these things, but removing them does certainly not help.

The thing about what Goverments should and should not do is a compleatly different discussion, as then we get in to politics, and that have nothing to do with this.....
Casper said…
And if anyone read Danish here is another thing on the same subject (From Jyllands Posten). And it seams like they have found some good references. Not only does the people who came up with the idea think it's great, they also claim that people follow the trafic rules more when there are no trafic signs.

On the other hand; skeptics say that larger European cities could turn in to an Turkish bazar during rush hours.....

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