A German town has removed all its traffic signs and road markings in an ‘ambitious’ effort to encourage responsible driving.
Bohmte, in Osnabruck, Lower Saxony, has recently adopted the EU-backed Shared Space project, which aims to integrate traffic with pedestrians and other surroundings by removing road markings, traffic lights, edge markings, and speed-restriction signs. Traffic consultant, Ben Hamilton-Baillie, who is an adviser on the Shared Space project, said motorists became ‘zombies’ with the usual barriers, and by removing them, it made people more aware of their surroundings. Bohmte’s approach was ‘the most interesting and ambitious’ of all the seven towns undertaking the project throughout Europe, Hamilton-Baillie said. The concept has been a success in towns in the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, France and Italy.
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