I came across an article published on a German website called "Spiegel Online", that describes a trend taking place across Europe to improve safe driving by eliminating traffic laws.

The idea is that there are now so many laws, including hundreds of different kinds of signs and stripes and lanes that drivers find themselves sinking into a comfort zone. They don't think too much about what they're supposed to do, they just react to the signs and stripes.

By removing all the signs and stripes along the roads, it forces drivers to think and slow down and be more cautious...

The new traffic model's advocates believe the only way out of this vicious circle is to give drivers more liberty and encourage them to take responsibility for themselves. They demand streets like those during the Middle Ages, when horse-drawn chariots, handcarts and people scurried about in a completely unregulated fashion. The new model's proponents envision today's drivers and pedestrians blending into a colorful and peaceful traffic stream.

Read the full article here...

http://www.spiegel.de/..../0,1518,448747,00.html

Part of the strategy is to tear up the asphalt and repave the roads with cobblestones. I'm not sure of the logic behind that, except to make the road more bumpy, causing people to slow down. AS IF your Harley isn't already vibrating enough.

The report goes on to illustrate some cities that have already done this, and that fatalities and accidents have actually decreased.

Road planners from the United States are already studying this, the report says.

Labels: Europe Motorcycle News, Road Technology, Traffic Laws