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‘No Road Rules’ Policy Gets Rid of Traffic Accidents

Since the town of Bohmte, Germany implemented a radical new anti-traffic control procedure a month ago, there hasn’t been a single accident on the busy roads.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on June 25 2008
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Imagine a town with no traffic lights, no stop signs - not even a pedestrian crosswalk.

Sound like a recipe for bumper-to-bumper traffic and constant fender-benders? Think again: Since the town of Bohmte, Germany implemented this radical new anti-traffic control procedure a month ago, there hasn’t been a single accident on the busy roads.

Before the new road rules came into action, the town’s busy streets were home to at least one serious collision every week, and countless minor traffic infractions. The new policy, funded by a £1.8 million grant from the European Union, was an experiment to see if drivers and pedestrians might be better behaved if the government wasn’t telling them what to do on the road. Now, there are only two steady rules in place: The maximum speed limit throughout the town is 30 miles an hour, and everyone must yield to the right.

By all accounts, the new program has been a raving success. Rather than paying attention to road signs and signals, drivers and walkers can simply pay attention to what their fellow road-sharers are doing, making things run more smoothly for everyone involved.

“Politeness pays,” the town mayor, Klaus Goedejohann, told the Daily Mail. “We have proved that.’”

Filed under: General Interest, Weird,

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