If we were free to live by equality instead of forced to live and die by priority, most of our road safety and many of our congestion problems would vanish in a puff of exhaust smoke.
We’re supposed to accept traffic controls without question. Well, here are a few questions.
Why should we stop at red when no-one is using the green?
Who is the better judge of when, or what speed to go – you and me at the time and the place, or lights and limits fixed by absent regulators?
Is it reasonable to put the onus on children to beware motorists, or should it be the other way round?
If driving while using a mobile phone is banned on the ground that it takes our eyes off the road, should traffic lights, speed cameras and speed limits be banned for the same reason?
Is it safer to cross a green light at speed or, having checked there is no conflicting traffic, a red light with care?
Is it time to install traffic lights in shopping centres and skateboard parks, or time to start treating motorists as grown-ups?
We complain about the traffic and blame other drivers, but could it be traffic control that is the problem?
All road-users, on foot or on wheels, should be equal, with the vulnerable, especially children, more equal than others. We should replace the anti-social, aggressive rule of priority with equality, and make junctions all-way give-ways, using traffic lights only for multi-lane junctions at peak times.
