Monderman’s ‘naked street’ exposes key safety lessons – Fleet Voice
Wednesday 7 September 2011. Fleet Voice Column.
Health and safety doesn’t always get the best press.
Often seen as nannying by the state or clipboard-wielding do-gooders sticking their hooters in where they’re not wanted, ’ealth and safety is cited by many as plain old interference.
The downside to health and safety is it has created a culture that is both far more risk aware and risk averse, yet also one that is less conscious of the outcomes of its actions. Nowhere is this more clearly obvious than with cars.
Just a decade ago, most new cars did not have ESP traction control fitted as standard, yet we are now on the verge of this safety aid becoming standard on all new cars. Good thing too, though I can’t help but feel if governments and car makers devoted as much time to driver education and training we could see even greater drops in road deaths and serious injuries.
We’ve also witnessed ABS anti-lock brakes become standard fit on all new cars sold since July 2004, so safety is a prime concern for all car drivers.
However, in providing these safety nets, have car makers and legislators allowed us to grow complacent? Should be we cosseted by so much technology or be made aware it’s there? After all, if we didn’t know that ABS and ESP were there to offer a helping hand, would we drive in the same way?
“Who has right of way? I don’t care”
This is the question that is posed by woonerfs. Nope, it’s not one of those hybrid dog breeds like a Labradoodle or Puggle. A woonerf is a street that has been stripped of its signs, white lines, traffic lights and all of the furniture we’re so used to.
The idea behind the woonerf, which translates as ‘living street’, comes from Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman [pictured left]. He discovered the idea when he stepped into the road without looking one day. Far from meeting a premature end, Monderman found that car drivers intuitively slowed down and gave him the space to walk freely.
Monderman says: “Who has the right of way? I don’t care, but people have to find their own way, negotiate for themselves and use their own brain.”
Okay, so we might not like to experiment the way Monderman did or let our kids be the first guinea pigs, but the idea has gained great momentum.
It’s being successfully employed in streets around the world and there have been very positive effects on road safety figures where woonerfs are used.
Another level
The Institute of Advanced Motorists has just conducted a survey that shows 58% of those asked thought drivers should be held legally responsible for accidents between cars and more vulnerable road users in pedestrian-priority areas.
A woonerf is the ultimate example of a pedestrian-priority zone as people have right of way over all other forms of transport.
It turns the usual order of the road on its head and forces drivers to think about what they are doing rather than continue with little regard to their surroundings.
By slowing traffic down of its own volition, woonerfs also work on another level.
Studies show the human brain cannot establish eye contact with another individual if one or other is travelling at more than 20mph. It’s thought this is because 20mph is the limit that humans can run at, so the brain is not programmed to cope with anything faster.
Incidentally, 20mph is about the maximum speed a human body can be in a car accident and reasonably be expected to survive without serious injury.
Coincidence? Probably not.
Great boon potential
Back to woonerfs. By making every pedestrian and road user the responsibility of car drivers, it focuses the mind of all drivers. Woonerfs force drivers to slow down as they have to think much more than they normally do on roads and streets where there are signs and warnings to tell road users and pedestrians where they should be and how they should behave.
Far from causing anarchy on the roads where woonerfs have been introduced, they have helped cut accident rates and lower average speeds. Of course, woonerfs are not applicable in all situations, but in towns and cities they have the potential to be a great boon.
Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research for the IAM said: “Our poll reveals a surprisingly positive attitude towards better protection of cyclists and pedestrians, both in road layout and legal responsibility.
“On the continent, attractive street design is used to make it clear where pedestrians have priority but this approach is in its infancy in the UK.
“The IAM supports any move to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists, but research is needed into the best way to inform drivers about changes in legal responsibility, and also on the effect a woonerf might have on the road sense of children brought up in such a zone, when later exposed to less protected areas.”
Planet woonerf
Ah, it’s that old health and safety question again: could a child brought up in a woonerf region be expected to know how to behave in a non-woonerf street like the ones we’re most used to?
The simple answer is most people will experience a variety of different road types and locations as they grow up, so they will adapt intuitively to varying conditions. Look at Hans Monderman: if the drivers around him had not adapted when he made his woonerf discovery, he would be the late Mr Monderman by now [Ed: he is, Monderman died in 2008].
Should drivers be held responsible for all others outside of woonerf zones? Of course not. As Hans Monderman pointed out, we all have to use our brains.
This is where health and safety always falls short for many of us. By its very nature, it has to allow for the lowest common denominator and that is a very stupid person who has no regard for their own safety or that of others around them.
This is also where woonerfs would come into their own. Rather than Darwinian selection where a fool would be quickly struck by a car in a woonerf zone, these areas would also force other road users and pedestrians to think more consciously of their actions where a car is involved. A little less health and safety, a lot more individual responsibility and we could all enjoy safer roads.
So next time you’re due a health and safety assessment, bring up the subject of woonerfs and stand up for your right as a clear-thinking individual. Just don’t go walking into the traffic like Hans Monderman.
Monderman explains the practical outcome of woonerfs:
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