A "shared place" on the roads
 

The UK has a reputation for zany ideas but this latest one beats all......

Exhibition Road in London which is home to the Victoria and Albert Museum as well as the Science and Natural History Museums is to have all the white lines, pedestrian crossings and pavements removed and will become a "shared place" where motorists and pedestrians have equal rights and no one has priority,described in the press as "a sort of peace 'n' harmony":hippy:

This means that you have a perfect right to walk up the centre of the "shared place" while cars simply drive anywhere as long as that space isn't taken up by other drivers or pedestrians.

The whole idea is madness but it is compounded by the fact that the road they have selected has thousands of school children daily in parties of 30 or more visiting the museums.

Are we talking days or hours before someone is killed?:( :end:

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

This system has been tried on the continent, in Holland I think. Against all expectations, early indications suggested that it actually worked, due to both drivers and pedestrians being more careful and observant.

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

The full story is here...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...on/4151047.stm

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

hope it works then

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

The RAC spokesperson doesn't sound too keen on the idea.

I wonder whereabouts in Wiltshire this is already in force and how well it works there.

I don't know how anybody else feels but when I'm on a strech of road with no markings I feel very vulnerable and feel a lot more comfortable when the familiar white lines are there.

If the street is crowded with pedestrians I feel rather sorry for the motorists - who remembers the old zebra crossing on Broadway (roughly from where Greggs now is across to Woollies) in the days when the road was open to traffic? Once pedestrians had started across there the cars didn't stand a chance of getting a look in.

I'm also rather nervous of the idea of a road with no pavement where large numbers of children are present. I sincerely hope that a child (assuming safety) doesn't dart in front of an unsuspecting car.

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

Sorry to butt in Willow but I posted a pic of the Load of Mischief on the Nori thread - you asked for one before :o)

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

Just seen it and replied. :)

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

By all means give it a try.....but Central London? and of all the London streets, why pick the one that is the most heavily populated with children?

Peel Street in Accy has been described as "a death trap" even though cars are banned and a 20 mph speed limit is in force. Pedestrians assume it is safe to cross so they often don't bother looking:eek: and they are adult!

Imagine if you can, a young 6 year old, seeing a throng of people walking around in the road, there are no kerbs or pavements to indicate a "safety zone" ...and his mate is 30 yards (sorry, Metres) away. His mental training has told him to stay on the kerb and check for traffic but this is a mystical street, no kerb, his peers are ignoring all the rules that he has been taught by his parents......he runs towards his mate... :angel:

I too would like to know where in Wiltshire this has been tried out and as for the experiment in Holland, was it central Amsterdam? or did they use a little of their grey matter and select a smaller town and roads that do not have "passing through" traffic?

I still think that this idea is absolutely crazy and when a death occurs, the councils involved should be charged with manslaughter.

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

None taken Busman, I assume a PM is personal message and if thats like IM I don't use them. Must admit I'm struggling on the navigation of AccyWeb, but I'm now keeping a couple of windows open and it seems to be helping :)

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

A PM isn't "live chat" like an IM it is more like a private post sent to just the person you wish to communicate with. I just tried to send you one but notice that your facility is disabled. It stops a certain amount of thread wandering and helps to keep to the actual theme of the thread by avoiding subjects which have absolutely nothing at all to do with it.

If you really have an aversion to Private Messages then you could always start a separate thread for your new subject. :)

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

As a Manager of several sites I'm aware of the dangers (hacking via IP addys - very easy to do) so I never reveal my email addy to others that may post. I'm sorry if I offended anyone by going off thread and I've corrected that now. :)

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

Why not use a disposable address like Yahoo or Hotmail?

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Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

At least we've got pavements there but I think it does confuse people when the roads are "paved" with the same kind of brickwork giving pedestrians the idea that they have right of way.


I totally agree with you that the centre is a complete mess and could do with a total re-vamp. How many roads have we got which lead to a roundabout which sends you back the way you came?

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

If Exhibition Road was to be 'shared' as the article suggests, I would certainly avoid it. My childrens' lives are not going to be gambled with - you only need one numpty for a tragedy to happen

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Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

Don't blame you Vorlon. I feel exactly the same.

The point is Park that they do intent to make Exhibition Road a "shared space" with no pavement, (at least we've got pavement areas on Broadway/Union St) no road markings and everyone having right of way, cars, buses, pedestrians INCLUDING CHILDREN! It's difficult enough trying to teach road sense to groups of young children who are excited about being out on a "school trip" without complicating the issue like this. I know, I've accompanied groups of junior school children to Manchester and trying to keep them ON the pavement and not spilling over onto the road is challenge enough.
Of course with the new "risk assessments" that schools have to do before planning a school trip it may well be that they will consider it far too dangerous to even contemplate and as a consequence children will lose out because these museum trips do form part of their education.

As for taking my own children - I'd be giving it some serious thought too.

There's also a very busy church on there which gets lots of visitors not only on Sundays as they have a "visitor's centre" where people can just drop in and find out what they're all about. I think there may well be a Family History centre too. I know there used to be. ON Sundays there are a lot of young children spilling out of that building all at once - with no pavement and a sudden unanticipated influx of small bodies.......... it doesn't bear thinking about.

Re: A "shared place" on the roads
 

I'm not from the area, so I don't know where you are talking about.

There's plenty of dangerous roads in Tunbridge Wells, though