Well in some circumstances yes. But are they necessary in all locations in which they are situated, and what are the alternatives?
My thinking behind this is fairly simple, last week the traffic lights at the end of my road failed and were out for 4 days. The lights are at a four way junction with an average of 100 cars per hour off peak.
I expected pandemonium, road rage and for the rule book to be thrown out of the window.
But instead I was fairly surprised by what I actually saw.
By the lights failing there was no direction, but unlike any other traffic control measure, there was no specific right of way either so every driver had to approach the junction as an equal and it was up to common courtesy to direct how things went.
And, in general, it worked! People mostly approched the junction with a greater degree of caution, respected other road users in a way that you commonly wouldn't see, there was no dash through before the lights changed, there were no accidents!
It was totally bizarre. And not only that, because there was no official stopping or starting, the traffic actually moved more freely.
So the question is, are traffic controls always needed, or are can we actually be trused to deal and navigate around certain junctions in an amiable way without expensive signals? I think so.
