Further proof, if it is needed, that traffic lights are no guarantee of pedestrian safety. On the contrary. Story
here.
Added by Martin Cassini on January 5, 2010 at 11:49 —
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More background on the Bristol lights-out campaign and my involvement
here. [Back tab to return to site.] They edited out the crux of what I had to say, viz. that lights are only a symptom of the underlying cause of most of our problems on the road: priority. Replace the skewed system of priority with equality, and most of our problems will vanish in a puff of…
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Added by Martin Cassini on November 7, 2009 at 10:00 —
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Tomorrow's Sunday Times is covering Bristol's plans to follow Portishead in switching off lights at a number of junctions. It was inevitable that as soon as one trial showed that we're better off left to our own devices, others would follow. The bandwagon is rolling. But as I've said in a piece for the Bristol Evening Post, lights are only the
symptom of the underlying
cause of our problems on the road: priority. Priority imposes unequal rights, it sets the stage for competitive…
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Added by Martin Cassini on October 31, 2009 at 17:30 —
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It's unlikely Shaw was thinking of traffic controls, but this is pertinent: "All professions are conspiracies against the laity." Twenty years ago I worked with John Tagholm on a TV proposal called
Experts can be bad for you. It challenged the medical, legal and planning professions. For the last ten years, I've challenged traffic 'experts'. Yesterday a traffic engineer suggested I didn't understand the complexities. The complexities of a system you promote? I asked. If the 'experts'…
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Added by Martin Cassini on October 17, 2009 at 10:30 —
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Another piece by the Bristol Evening Post (link at end) quotes Councillor David Pasley’s surprise at how well things have gone since the lights were switched off in Portishead. An angry man just posted the following comment (I think he’s angry because he’s been saying this stuff for years, and now, with virtually no reference, and certainly no payment to him, other people are shouting Eureka!). - Not everyone was amazed at the improvements brought about by switching off traffic lights in…
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Added by Martin Cassini on October 16, 2009 at 11:33 —
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My campaign is spreading, particularly to Bristol.
Article here. They still seem to miss the fundamental point about priority, which makes roads dangerous in the first place and produces a "need" for lights - at least it wasn't picked up by anyone else on BBC Radio Bristol this morning where I was asked to appear.
Added by Martin Cassini on October 15, 2009 at 10:10 —
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Three weeks in, and the lights-off trial at the double junction in Portishead has reduced average journey times for all road-users from 240 to 20 seconds - a drop of 83%, with no adverse safety effects, indeed if anything an improvement. Engineers say it's early days and only demonstrates that no control works at this location. They would, wouldn't they? Extrapolate that 83% of saved time, fuel and emissions across the country, across the decades ..!
Added by Martin Cassini on October 3, 2009 at 12:00 —
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Day 2. For motorists it's a dream. Chronic consecutive queueing has given way to sociable simultaneous filtering. The congestion conjured by traffic controls has vanished into thin air. "It's a million times better," said the owner of an estate agency on the junction. "Fabulous," said Olivia Jackson, a passer-by, echoing the views of many. But Ken Rossiter, partially sighted, said driver re-education should have preceded the trial. My sentiments too: I proposed an accompanying public awareness…
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Added by Martin Cassini on September 15, 2009 at 20:00 —
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