Originally Posted by
PatrickGSR94
And yet, most car/bike crashes lumped in the "hit from behind" category were cyclists riding in bike lanes or on shoulders, where the motorists drifted over the line.
Paint doesn't do a damn thing, or if it does, it causes motorists to pass CLOSER because they think the paint is a barrier and they don't have to move over at all.
There is something to what you say...
Hans Monderman did a number of tests that lead to what he called
shared space... the more the space is defined by signs and lines, the less the users feel responsible for their particular actions in that space... they are just "following orders."
Undefine the space, or use more subtle hints and people... drivers, become more responsible space users.
Now this concept has been implemented in a number of locations and it has led to some surprising results...
The town of Drachten in the Netherlands was one of the first to experiment the concept in 2002 by removing nearly all traffic signals with the aim of reducing accidents and improving both the towns quality and popularity. Despite increases in traffic volumes, accident numbers fell from 8.3 per year between 1994 and 2002 to an average of just one per year in 2005.
Eighty percent of shared space users in the Fort street area of Auckland reported feeling safer and 72 percent of drivers felt their journeys were either the same or shorter, so users appear to be happy.
...for the small town of Poynton in the county of Cheshire in Northern England. The town had seen the quality of its town center plummet with increased traffic flow and congestion, closure of retail outlets and a decline in shoppers. Its conversion into a shared space made the town more welcoming, increased footfall in eighty percent of retailers and elevated the 'dwell time' of people as they shopped.
The goal of capturing their spending power was met. Traffic speeds also fell to an average of 16-17 mph, according to Hamilton-Baillie, leading to free-flowing traffic and a reduction in accidents and fatalities from 1.1 per year to zero, since its introduction.
Shared space, where the streets have no rules - CNN.com
Of course getting this to work in places in the US is like pulling teeth... US drivers are very very used to well defined streets, with lines and signs and everything in it's proper place, so drivers can act like slot car racers and simply "stay inside the lines." Take away the lines and American motorists tend to become a bit loose with the rules. They are not used to making decisions without guidance.