CERDAFIED-There are a lot of myths out that we naturally buy into. Making order out of chaos may be one of those myths. It perpetuates a reliance on this order subconsciously just to feel safer. But it is not always in your best interest.
For example, in order to save money Los Angeles only lights a portion of its street lights at night.
Reduced visibility makes it more difficult to find addresses and it puts pedestrians and bicyclists at greater risk and slows the traffic, creating more traffic. Yet they leave all the traffic lights on at night, to direct travel, even though traffic is a mere trickle.
Traffic lights will delay you, no matter what time it is. It would seem more reasonable to light streets, and put traffic lights on flashers, if at all in some areas.
Are you resisting the idea, or does it kind of make sense to you already? A local city council in Bohmte, Germany not only decided to get rid of traffic lights, road signs, and crosswalks but they also gave the pedestrian, cyclist and driver equal rights on the road. What happened next was astonishing.
The formerly traffic plagued streets were no longer backed up. They went from 45 accidents to zero that year. The Deputy Mayor of Bohmte, Sabine De Buhr-Deichsel said, “People drive much more carefully as they enter the zone. This has led to a real improvement in road safety for everyone.”
The project is called “Share Space.” It was introduced in England and Holland. The only rule is drivers must give right of way to the left and not drive too fast. Locals voice concern about drivers who are unfamiliar with the new concept. They look perplexed and seem a bit disadvantaged.
Cyclists not only love it, they have multiplied. They get more respect on the street. Local police have noticed a big change in the way drivers communicate with each other; making eye contact, recognizing others and waving. But there are other benefits as well.
The cost of traffic mitigation, street striping, and road signage saved them money so they could spend it on improvements instead. The community was happy because tickets were greatly reduced. Cab drivers said they get to their destinations with ease and it was less stressful than before. People were just more courteous in general. Hamburg is considering making the same changes.
I love how they leveled the pavements out, creating a town square like piazza. It’s much easier for the disabled, cyclists, and pedestrian to navigate. Do I think it belongs everywhere? No. But it did make me realize that often we give up something very important to gain something less important. We are preconditioned to believe it is in our best interest when it really is not.
You have to appreciate how courageous it was for the city council of Bohmte to risk failure. After all the fear of failure is worse than failure itself, because from failure you learn, but from not taking risks you will never know what is possible.
(Lisa Cerda is a contributor to CityWatch, a community activist, VP of Community Rights Foundation of LA.)
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 012
Pub: Dec 20, 2013