CymraegLocal Democracy, 'Shared Space'
Traffic lights, the scourge of every driver's day, are hopelessly inefficient at allocating road user priority. They force us to wait when there is no traffic resulting in unnecessary congestion, but as we sit there impatiently staring at an empty street, waiting for the consent of the black box in front of us, deep down we believe they are a necessary evil to keep us safe. Yet is this really the case?
Dr. Martin Walker, who works in the field of driver behaviour, points out that most traffic control systems were invented in a fairly ad hoc manner and were never really tested. New findings show that there are certain urban settings where traffic lights actually increase danger and in the few places where they have been removed, accidents have fallen significantly. Professor Adams from University College London argues that the reasons for this is that lights force drivers to obey robots rather than acknowledge other road users, and they also encourage quick acceleration and sudden stops as drivers attempt to “beat the lights”.
So what would happen to our towns and cities if we removed lights from inappropriate places? Evidence from around the world shows that it not only reduces accidents but also improves the quality of life in the area. Roads become 'Shared Space' with pedestrians respected as fellow road users rather than obstacles, a new hierarchy emerges with the most vulnerable road users at the top.
In Norrkoping in Sweden, what was previously a dangerous signal controlled crossing has been turned into such a space, traffic lights have been removed and cars flow smoothly, and drivers watch each other and look other road users. In a documentary for BBC Newsnight, one pedestrian commented; “this is an anarchy that actually works because everyone is really careful walking and driving and everyone shows respect for each other,” and the evidence supports her. With no traffic lights in place there has not been a single accident since 2000.
While such shared space developments are widely used across the world, Britain has just a scattering of examples. Kensington High street has been designated an experiment in shared space; since it started two years ago there has been a 44% cut in accidents compared with a 17% London average fall in accidents. The deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Daniel Moylan, believes that the reason other councils have not copied this success story is that many health and safety officers are uninterested in the evidence that accidents would fall, but instead concerned about making it harder for road accident victims to bring successful litigation against highway authorities. He also believes groups that have an interest in selling more safety equipment influence decisions about how roads should be designed. Officialdom is rarely willing to accept that it is wrong on issues of health and safety, or any issue, and councils would far rather stick with what they know than try something new.
How do we change this culture of inertia and vested interests for one which deals with problems pragmatically? The Campaign for Democracy's model offers the solution. The purpose of the Constitutional Commission is to reform our political systems in ways that will give more power to the people living in the cities, counties, towns and villages of Britain. The people of any area would be allowed a say in matters that affect their lives, allowed control over the services and systems they pay for. Where the 'Shared space' system was wanted by local people they could initiate proposals that would allow referendums to be held on whether or not to have it. The strength of the initiative and referendum system is not that we would have lots of referendums, but that it makes councils more responsive. Once a group had obtained enough support to put a proposal to referendum it is likely that this would give the local council enough encouragement to look at the proposals seriously. Good proposals will then go through without the need for a referendum on every issue.