Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Town scraps traffic signs

A German town has scrapped all its traffic signs as part of an EU backed project to encourage responsible driving.

Dutchman Hans Monderman, who is managing the "shared space" project in the German town of Bohmte, said: "A rural town should look like a rural town and not like the Nuerburgring racing track."

The town, which has 13,000 inhabitants - also now has no traffic signs.

Monderman added: "We divide traffic into cars, bikes and pedestrians, and believe that by removing the signs we raise awareness among road users for each other. The less rules there are, the higher the risk of accidents, but also it means drivers take more care."

The only two rules are to drive on the right, and the right-before-left priority at junctions.

"The only thing that I need to know when I drive to a city, is that I am in a city," Monderman said.

No comments: