Column:
No road signs? Europe has surely gone mad
Published Jan. 28, 2005
Anyone planning to travel in Europe should be forewarned that its roads are wild. No, I'm not talking about those crazy British who drive from the right side of the vehicle, but the new trend in European road design: the naked road.
Hans Monderman, traffic engineer of the future, has designed an intersection in Holland devoid of all traditional road markings. There are no traffic signs, stoplights, lane markers, and, in fact, it's impossible to tell where the sidewalk ends and the road begins.
Monderman believes that by making roads appear more dangerous, they actually become safer.
It's a technique widely referred to as "counter-intuitive." I prefer to call it insane.
In Europe however, it's catching on. Spain, Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Britain will attempt variations of Monderman's design. Studies claim these unmarked intersections, which leave drivers to make their own assumptions in navigation, actually work and decrease the number of accidents. The whole process seems like sheer anarchy.
Perhaps Europeans are more understanding when it comes to rules such as who has the right of way. Maybe they're more gracious to pedestrians. But I can recall times when I've been nearly run over, despite the signs and signals proclaiming I had right of way.
Monderman's theory suggests road signs treat the average driver as if he were an idiot, and, as a result, the average driver tends to do idiotic things. For example, he points out a standard European sign displayed in a cattle ranching area depicting a cow. The sign says, "What do you expect to find here? Wallabies?"
However, I fail to see how the absence of road signs is going to control the wild driver who ignores them in the first place.
Urban areas couldn't use the naked intersections, Monderman said. But I wonder if the design could ever make it to the United States, even in suburban or rural areas?
Imagine Americans with our legions of SUVs released into a wild road system with no direction or guidance, free to speed to our hearts' content. It's hard to picture overbearing American drivers stopping for pedestrians, or any other vehicle, for that matter.
Yet this crazy European trend is slowly making its way across the ocean. West Palm Beach, Fla., narrowed the lanes and did away with turn lanes and traffic circles. Surprisingly enough, the area reported fewer accidents and quicker trip times.
Sometimes these ideas are just crazy enough to work.
Still, it's hard to imagine giving up our tightly regimented traffic system anytime soon. There is, of course, a rarely mentioned upside to Monderman's bizarre traffic plan. If there are no more traffic regulations, rules and speed limits, maybe we can rid ourselves of traffic tickets.
