Rural junction getting FiT?

[Martin Cassini]

Recently I submitted a proposal for a FiT solution at the Westleigh T-junction near Bideford. The junction has a bit of an accident record, and Devon Highways want to install traffic lights. Hans "shared space" Monderman used to say shared space was for urban rather than rural locations. But if you accept the advantages of equality over priority, FiT could work almost anywhere, especially at junctions where single carriageways meet, as at Westleigh. Why are there "accidents" at Westleigh? Because main road priority puts the minor road at a dangerous disadvantage. It tells the main road driver to ignore the side road. The minor road driver, especially the right-turner, has to beware fast-moving traffic and wait for a safe gap. Why would FiT work? Because with equality guiding behaviour instead of priority dictating it, everyone would approach carefully and filter at sociable speeds. That would solve the safety "problem", without the need for expensive controls. It would solve the efficiency problem too: instead of stops, restarts and consecutive queueing, there would be simultaneous filtering. Moreover, filtering at low revs minimises fuel use and emissions. - The former drugs adviser, David Nutt, defending his findings about the greater comparative harm caused by alcohol, says "a coherent policy needs to be informed by evidence-based analysis". Applied to the roads, the only real traffic lights-off trial I've managed to instigate so far – in Portishead – confounded doubters and is a lasting success. Will I get a chance to prove the almost equally obvious at Westleigh?

[Martin Cassini]

A 40mph limit is already in place there. But why not replace priority with equality to take the sting out of virtually every junction, and transcend the "need" for signals and the "need" for speed limits? Let commonsense and context determine appropriate conduct. The main flow need not slow down if nothing is there. If something is there, they can slow down and accommodate it. But, predictably, the regressive authority has made its decision. No trial, no re-design of the junction to incorporate a deflection. Just the same old, neanderthal traffic signal "solution".

[Stefan Langeveld]

It might work there and trials are much needed, but caution:
1 Higher speeds and greater distances mean that eye contact is less.
2 Vehicles from the minor road must stop/slow before their turn, so natural law (founded on saving time and energy) tells us that the main road gets priority (except when they turn left or right). This applies on urban roads as well with a large difference between major and minor.
Should lorries slow down at every junction ? If not, the dangerous disadvantage remains.