Road Rules! (and the lack thereof)

Okay, let me be the first to say it: this is utter insanity.

Salon has an article on a new school of thought in traffic flow engineering: that traffic safety measures may actually make streets more, not less dangerous.

Reversing decades of conventional wisdom on traffic engineering, Hamilton-Baillie argues that the key to improving both safety and vehicular capacity is to remove traffic lights and other controls, such as stop signs and the white and yellow lines dividing streets into lanes. Without any clear right-of-way, he says, motorists are forced to slow down to safer speeds, make eye contact with pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers, and decide among themselves when it is safe to proceed.

Uh, right. Doubtful that this traffic anarchy is coming to a street near you, but it makes for interesting reading.
(via Techdirt)