So the citizens of Bohmte decided to take a big risk. Since September, they’ve been tearing up the sidewalks, removing curbs and erasing street markers as part of a radical plan to abandon nearly all traffic regulations and force people to rely on common sense and courtesy instead.
Quelle: A Green Light for Common Sense
This contrarian approach to traffic management, known as shared space, is gaining a foothold in Europe. Towns in the Netherlands, Denmark, Britain and Belgium have tossed out their traffic lights and stop signs in a bid to reclaim their streets for everyone.
[…] The new pavement is a reddish-brick color, intended to send a subtle signal to drivers that they are entering a special zone.
Wer hat’s erfunden? Auch in meiner Wohngemeinde Neuenegg gibt es im Dorfzentrum eine solche „rote“ Zone – ein ganzer Strassenabschnitt ist ein einzelner, grosser Fussgängerstreifen.
[…] Removing traffic lights and erasing lane markers, the thinking goes, will cause drivers to get nervous and slow down.
„Generally speaking, what we want is for people to be confused,“ said Willi Ladner, a deputy mayor in Bohmte. „When they’re confused, they’ll be more alert and drive more carefully.“
[…] In Haren, the Netherlands, for example, the number of accidents at one intersection dropped by 95 percent, from 200 a year to about 10,
Für verkehrsreiche Zonen in Städten scheint dieser Ansatz ungeeignet zu sein:
The program is designed only for public spaces where pedestrians and cyclists share routes with cars. Traffic engineers say it could lead to gridlock if introduced in high-traffic areas, such as large cities.
Practically speaking, the shared space concept works only at intersections that attract fewer than 15,000 vehicles a day, […]
