Hans Monderman, Radical Traffic Engineer

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I knew nothing about Hans Monderman before I stumbled upon this video of him on BoingBoing, but boy do I wish I’d learned about him earlier.

His basic take on street design, traffic flow, and traffic safety seem to make instant sense to any car guy out there who can tell you what their tire pressure is without checking.

Monderman gained notoriety due to his unconventional views of traditional traffic safety ­infra­structure. He doesn’t mch care for things like ­warning signs, traffic lights, metal railings, curbs, painted lines, speed bumps, etc. feeling that they are often unnecessary, and can also endanger those it is meant to protect.

Monderman had a maxim: “When you treat people like idiots, they’ll behave like idiots.”

Gah, think of saying that in some DOT planning meeting. Imagine what the response would be if you or I were to say, “Why do we have to tell them there’s a bridge there? Can’t they see it already?”

But this is America, and of the overfed, home of those fearful of lawyers, so we get roadsigns telling us crap we don’t need to know, and motorcycle helmet laws, and other forms of well meaning, but largely useless legal ephemera that slowly makes being even a half-bright driver a total pain.

Source: BoingBoing

Filed Under: Video