IN ORDER to improve road safety, a town in Germany has decided to remove all traffic lights and stop signs from its downtown area. The new system came into effect on Wednesday in Bohmte in the hope of reducing accidents and making life easier for pedestrians, who will now have equal right of way.
The concept has been called shared space and was coined by Dutch traffic specialist Hans Monderman. Shared space is even supported by the EU and it is already in effect in the Dutch town of Drachten, where all stop signs, traffic lights, pavements and other street markers have been removed. Statistics indicate that accidents have reduced significantly.
The town council of Bohmte has paid for half of the cost to remove traffic lights and stop signs and the other 1.2 million euros has been subsidised by the EU. Some road specialists at Berlin’s Technical Traffic Institute are more sceptical about the scheme and do not believe it will work.
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