Chaos not Crashes:
I was fascinated by this article in Salon on new trends in traffic science, one of which argues that more chaos and less control on the roads leads to calmer traffic and fewer accidents and pedestrian fatalities. That means blurring the boundary between sidewalk street, fewer traffic lights and stop signs, and letting car, pedestrian, bicycle and yes, trees using the street space equally.
Pedestrian activist Linda Baker wrote the article so you can guess where her sentiments lie. But no matter how interesting I found her reasoning, I couldn’t quite buy it because I didn’t get to see it in action. How about some picture, or, saints alive!, a video? Traffic has been so the same for so long that I need to see it different to believe it.
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2 Replies to “Chaos not Crashes:”
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You have to visit India to see traffic in chaos, and the same, if not less, people die due to accidents there. Of course, since it is so chaotic, speeds are low too. Nobody sticks to lanes, and most junctions have neither lights, nor traffic cop. No stop signs, and no tickets for speeding.
There!
more chaos == lower speed == less fatalities
(among other things, of course)
You have to visit India to see traffic in chaos, and the same, if not less, people die due to accidents there. Of course, since it is so chaotic, speeds are low too. Nobody sticks to lanes, and most junctions have neither lights, nor traffic cop. No stop signs, and no tickets for speeding.
There!
more chaos == lower speed == less fatalities
(among other things, of course)