Traffic management

The hotel where I stayed on a recent visit to Italy was sited at the corner of a busy crossroads. This gave me an excellent view from my balcony of the traffic pattern and movement.

There were no traffic lights but all four corners had "stop" road markings as well as pole standing signs compulsorily requiring drivers to halt at each corner. There were even hatched lines prohibiting drivers from crossing or driving on these lines. Notwithstanding these restrictions, traffic moved briskly and smoothly at the rate on my count of 40 vehicles per minute, without a horn being sounded.

In my seven-night stay, there was not one single accident to my knowledge and not one instance of road rage could be detected.

There was of course a price to pay: No driver obeyed the regulations and little courtesy was shown to other drivers who had the right of way. It seemed that all the drivers were tuned to each other's disregard of the law and knew exactly how to react to each other's idiosyncrasies. Pedestrians also interacted and contrary to the Italian driver's reputation in his alleged disregard of pedestrians crossing, every consideration was shown towards pedestrians.

It was fascinating to watch and however incongruous it may seem to purists, the system worked to keep the traffic moving. It also posed the question: how would our traffic management people react to that system? You have guessed it. They would immediately erect traffic lights at each corner. A traffic island would be built on the hatched lines at a height designed to effect the maximum damage to a vehicle running into an unlit one as would be the case, and the road would also be narrowed.

The result? Traffic tailbacks of road rage proportions at each approach, vehicles pumping pollutants into the atmosphere, an increase in noise levels, probable loss of parking spaces, traffic wardens posted to extract maximum revenues from unwitting drivers for any tiny infringement, enforced wear and tear on vehicle use, increase in fuel consumption and, of course, delayed arrivals at destinations.

The clever among your readers would no doubt prefer that the law should not be broken and that it is preferable for our traffic management people to turn a workable arrangement into yet more restrictions and mess things up once more to justify their existence.