As our society becomes ever more complex our ‘representatives’ in local and national government feel they have to make more laws and regulations and implement new controls on people’s behaviour to ensure the safety of the majority. If they did not then very soon chaos and disorder would reign right? Well, as we know in our hearts this is nonsense, it is not laws and regulations that make people care for each other, all it needs is for the removal of all the extraneous impediments to mutual aid. Here is very practical example.

As the density of vehicles in our towns and cities increased over the last century and number of road accidents increased the authorities started to implement various ‘controls’. (As an aside I have seen the judges summing up in the case of the first pedestrian killed by a car: “this is a dreadful incident and I hope never to see its like again” !)

Initially vehicle speed limits were introduced, and then it was decided to separate pedestrians from the traffic by means of kerbs and pavements to designate where pedestrians should walk. Then traffic lights, various evolutions of the pedestrian crossing, pedestrian bridges, underpasses, and a seemingly infinite number of signs giving orders to drivers: no parking, parking restrictions, not right turn, no left turn, no entry, priority to oncoming traffic, no heavy vehicles etc. etc.

But still we see an unacceptable number of casualties on the streets of our towns and cities. So what should we do? Yes of course, say the authorities – more regulation and control is needed, so lets speed a fortune on speed cameras, traffic calming and barriers so pedestrians cross where we want them to not where they need to.

And still people are getting killed an injured. Our streets are cluttered with myriad poles, signs, cameras and ugly barriers (their likeness to a cage has an apt symbolism).

So what would happen of we tried a radical approach and removed all these devices that and regulate our behaviour and tell us how to interact with each other? Well the evidence is that the roads become safer.

The Shared Streets concept, pioneered in Holland and also implemented in Denmark, Canada and Germany, is based on the idea that if all the controls, such as separation of pavement and road, pedestrian barriers, traffic lights and signs are removed then people will take their own responsibility for moving safely. Because vehicle speeds are lowered to about 20mph, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians have time to make eye contact with each other, to interact and therefore avoid colliding with each other. People will respond to what is happening around them rather than just blindly following the instructions of a sign or the colour of the lights.

In Holland, a reduction of 20% in road accidents has been reported where these ideas have been implemented. Wiltshire County Council has tested simply removing white lines from the centre of urban roads and found that accidents fell by 35 per cent.

Kensington & Chelsea Council is currently implementing the system on Exhibition Road. Ben Hamilton-Baillie, an urban designer who has helped to draw up the plans for Exhibition Road, said that motorists would still have full access to the road, but it would be like driving through a campsite. “You don’t need signs everywhere on a campsite telling you to give way or stop or slow down, because its blindingly obvious what you need to do,” he said.
Drivers would also be more responsible for any accidents as they would no longer be able to argue that people “just stepped out into the road”. Drivers will save time by no longer having to wait for a green light if there is a gap at the junction.
So next time somebody starts banging on about the need for the state to make rules and regulations in order to avoid chaos and mayhem you can cite this example back at them. Then reclaim the streets!