Traffic lights. These baine of my existence.
Eight in ten traffic lights ‘should be ripped out to cut jams’
Report says over regulation of traffic is detrimental to road safety, the economy and the environment
Study by the Institute of Economic Affairs found economy is losing £16bn | From 2000 to 2014 traffic lights on Britain’s roads increased by 25 per cent | After a 2009 trial at the Cabstand Junction, near Bristol, traffic jams eased
The frustration of crawling towards traffic lights that seem almost permanently set to red is a daily ritual for millions of motorists.
Such delays cost the nation billions of pounds, according to researchers, and Britain would be better off if the government ripped out
80 per cent of traffic lights.
A study by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) found that a two-minute delay to every car journey made in a year equates to an astonishing loss to the economy of around £16 billion.
And the cumulative effect of unnecessary traffic regulation ‘imposes an enormous burden on the UK economy’, the IEA’s report says.
Its authors urge a radical solution, saying that car journeys would be much quicker if instead of sluggish queues at traffic lights, drivers deployed ‘voluntary cooperation’ to negotiate regulation-free roads.
Entitled ‘Seeing Red: Traffic Controls And The Economy’, the report says: ‘Not only is a high proportion of traffic regulation detrimental to road safety, the economy and the environment, it also imposes huge costs on road-users, taxpayers and communities.’
The report’s authors point to case studies from around Britain and evidence from successful schemes in both the Netherlands and Germany. After a 2009 trial switching off lights at the notorious Cabstand Junction, in Portishead near Bristol, traffic jams eased and the lights were removed – an approach the researchers want to see across the country.
‘Traffic signals could be taken out where they cause unnecessary delays, perhaps following Portishead-style trials where lights are switched off for several weeks to observe the impact