Traffic Signs Removed: 'Unsafe Is Safe'

"The idea of a town with no road signs conjures up ideas of Italian-style traffic mayhem, with cars whizzing everywhere and nervous pedestrians diving for cover. But for some traffic experts, such chaos is to be embraced -- or, as the title of a recent traffic conference in Frankfurt put it, 'unsafe is safe.'"

"Now the town of Bohmte in the German state of Lower Saxony is putting its money where its motor mouth is -- it's getting rid of its road signs in a bid to cut accidents."

"The work to remove the road signs will begin Wednesday in the town of 13,500 inhabitants. Sidewalks will disappear, as will the asphalt, replaced by cobblestones. Cycle lanes and sidewalks will be distinguished from the road only by color. The town is putting up half of the project's €2.35-million costs itself, with the EU and other sources of funding supplying the other half."

"The radical philosophy has already been implented in the town of Drachten in the Netherlands, which has abolished its road signs and traffic lights. Accidents there have declined dramatically since the new regime was introduced."