The case against traffic lights.

DfT announces that the annual road death toll fell 7% in 2007 compared with 2006 and yet there are cries that more could be done.FiT Roads the charity behind a campaign to rid Britain of traffic lights, says that many accidents are the result of the rules of the road which allow motorists priority on main roads. “Today’s child road-death rate is not evidence that roads are safer,” writes Professor John Adams. “Roads are seen as so dangerous that children are not allowed out anymore.”FiT Roads aims to promote the right of all road-users and pedestrians to enjoy safe travel on civilised roads.They oppose regulation which contrives conflict, dictates behaviour and deprives road users of choice. Martin Cassini, the man behind Fit Roads writes that most “accidents” are not accidents at all. They are events contrived by the rules of the road. He suggests that safety measures are doomed because they fail to address the fatal flaw at the heart of the system: priority.Martin hopes to see a replication of the system seen in the States and the Channel Isles were traffic filters in the order that it arrives creating a more natural flow of traffic rather than automatically granting priority to motorists on main roads.Traffic lights are argued to create conflict as drivers dash to make it through lights before they turn red and distract them from the road. They increase fuel consumption and drive motorists mad as they are forced to wait, often when it is safe to go.The system of priority puts the onus on children to beware vehicles. Is that reasonable? Is it civilised? When lights are out of action, or in “shared space” towns such as Drachten in Holland, the onus shifts to where it belongs: drivers beware pedestrians. A new hierarchy emerges with vulnerable road-users at the top. Even blind people can go in safety, because on roads free of counterproductive traffic controls, people can act on commonsense, courtesy and context.FiT Roads is currently preparing a proposal for a lights-off trial to test the case.http://www.fitroads.org

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