Dangerous Bicycle Scenario

[xuth.livejournal.com]

I just ran into (almost literally) a very dangerous bicycle scenario in Davis Square this evening.

I was parked at the (somerville provided) bike parking space between Dover and Day St on Holland/Elm St. I got onto Holland/Elm St and rode southeast through the square right in front of a car on Day St with a green light. The problem is that from my vantage point, I have no stop light or stop sign (they are all behind me where Holland crosses Dover) and from this vantage point, Day St intersecting with Elm St is a completely separate intersection from Holland St intersecting with Dover St. But the traffic signals treat it as one intersection. Without knowing all the details of this intersection (which I should, I just have never dealt with this scenario before), I have no reason to think that I should be concerned about traffic coming from Day St. There really needs to be an additional Holland street light at the corner of Day St.

Comments

[allli.livejournal.com]

Monderman's idea is that if you remove all the external cues to drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, etc. (traffic lights, stop signs, raised curbs, islands) then people will be forced to look at EACH OTHER to see how they should progress, instead of relying on the 'machinery' to tell them to do so. his hope is that if you engage people in actually having to pay attention to where people are moving and whose turn it is, they will drive more tentatively and thus be safer.

i have not experienced this; just read about it being in place somewhere in Europe ( i had thought sweden; but i could be misremembering). obviously at issue is how well it would work with americans...

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

Oh Yea, a google search for him turns up Wired magazine article:

"We drive on to another project Monderman designed, this one in the nearby village of Oosterwolde. What was once a conventional road junction with traffic lights has been turned into something resembling a public square that mixes cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. About 5,000 cars pass through the square each day, with no serious accidents since the redesign in 1999. "To my mind, there is one crucial test of a design such as this," Monderman says. "Here, I will show you."With that, Monderman tucks his hands behind his back and begins to walk into the square - backward - straight into traffic, without being able to see oncoming vehicles. A stream of motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians ease around him, instinctively yielding to a man with the courage of his convictions......