"The words will make you out 'n' out"

Here's an interesting article about an experiment in the Netherlands in which the town of Drachten has done away with all traffic lights (replacing busy intersections with roundabouts). The philosophy here is that by making the roads "less" safe, drivers are forced to become more aware of their surroundings. As they put it, "it shifts the emphasis away from the government taking the risk, to the driver being responsible for his or her own risk".

I've always been interested in traffic planning and design and I have often felt that traffic lights actually create more congestion by introducing artificial reasons to stop the flow of traffic. I especially feel this way considering that most traffic light situations are not intelligent at all, often making vehicles stop for no good reason. There is a belief that in North America, drivers are too aggressive for roundabouts to work, but there are a few neighbourhoods in Calgary (Garrison Woods for one) that have proved them to be workable. A resident of my neighbourhood even presented a roundabout design for the schmozzle that intersects the Trans Canada, Shaganappi Trail and Bowness Rd in our neck of the woods. It sure looked better than anything our city engineers could dream up.

One thing I know for sure is that driving through areas where I have to stop every couple of minutes at a light really makes me impatient.