[FRIAM] Shared Space

[Martin C. Martin]

Hi,

Those who enjoyed the video of traffic in India, where there were no 
lights or signs, might find the Wikipedia "Shared space" entry interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_space

The philosophy

To improve the safety of roads by making them appear more dangerous. By 
removing lines, signs, and other traditional road safety paraphernalia, 
drivers stop looking at signs and start looking at people. This, it has 
been demonstrated, will make roads safer.

The reasons for this apparent paradox may be found by studying the risk 
compensation effect.

As the name implies, the strategy also means to stop the segregation of 
different means of traffic: Instead, cyclists and motor vehicles drive 
on the same lanes, and pedestrians are free to cross anywhere. This does 
not only work astonishingly well, it also has the effect that the weaker 
traffic participants feel more comfortable, and experience the street as 
a place to live.

- Martin