Traffic lights to be switched off in safety experiment
A glimmer of light in our increasingly authoritarian, you-cannot-be-trusted-to-think-for-yourself society: The possibility of the removal of over 100 traffic lights from the heart of London. Whoop!
The Telegraph has this to say:
While appearing radical, similar initiatives have already been undertaken on the continent. In the Dutch town of Drachten, where many of the lights were stripped out, the number of people injured in accidents fell because road users took greater care. In many towns in the United States, motorists approach four way junctions where there are no lights and have to negotiate priority between themselves.
"We will be creating a bit of indecision in all road users' minds to create a safe environment," said Martin Low, Westminster City Council's head of transportation.
"When lights are out we have noticed that drivers are far more considerate and show more care and attention than they are when they have the reassurance of traffic lights."
"We think there is a huge potential to reduce delay for all road users."
I confess to feeling a little gloomy that not only is a measure such as this described as "appearing radical", but also that a full explanation and illustrative examples to demonstrate its efficacy are apparently required.
Only in our NuLabourian nightmare do we doubt that the vast majority of people, if permitted to take full responsibility for their own actions, would do almost anything to avoid mowing pedestrians down, colliding with other vehicles, causing costly damage and generally risking life and limb - the warped logic being, of course, that human beings are a savage and destructive lot requiring ever-increasing control from our morally superior lords and masters, for our own good.
This initiative also offers the potential for improved travel efficiency - a benefit that Martin Low brings to our attention only after having stated the compelling case for a safer road environment. Everyone's a winner! Oh no -
The initiative worried Brake, the road safety charity. "We would hope that they have done a full risk assessment before they start taking out lights.
"Their priority should be aimed at making roads safer for walkers and cyclists, rather than making traffic move more quickly."
That'll be "stopping the carnage, caring for the victims" Brake - the nannying charity* whose longevity can, of course, be guaranteed only for as long as we continue to be injured, maimed and killed on the roads.
*Brake is supported by (amongst others) the Department for Transport, the Department of Health, the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, The Scottish Government and the Youth Justice Board, not to mention these "affiliated partners", many of whom have made donations to Brake.
H/T @rogthornhill, who also blogs here, for bringing this to my attention.
