Birmingham City Centre could be seeing drastic changes to its streetscapes as a result of plans to remove traffic lights, kerbs, railings, speed limits and warning signs in order to cut accident rates. The idea for the so-called “naked streets” comes from Holland and is being considered by Birmingham City Council for a number of locations in the City Centre.
The concept of sharing street space between cars, lorries, cyclists and pedestrians is meant to encourage these different groups of road users to mingle freely. In Holland the approach has seen accident rates fall dramatically, whilst at the same time traffic flows in busy areas have improved. The creators of the scheme say it works by encouraging people to think for themselves when they are navigating the city centre rather than relying on road markings, signs and traffic lights.
A pilot scheme is due to be trialled in the Moseley area of the city after local business owners there voiced their support. The naked streets idea helped cut accidents at a busy junction in the town of Drachten in Holland from 9 a year to only 1. In the UK the idea has been tried out in a smaller scale in Ashford in Kent, Brighton and Kensington High Street in London. If successful many other areas of the UK could see the idea introduced to busy urban streets.
Camps Solicitors represent thousands of people who have been injured in accidents on the road every year. Many of these accidents happen in city centre environments where a combination of heavy traffic congestion, narrow streets and noise levels create an environment where accidents are very likely to happen. When an accident does happen and someone is injured, we can help them to recover compensation from the person or persons responsible.
Call 0800 092 8586
Speak to one of our claims advisors about your claim.
