'Paradoxically' this sounds like madness. Anyone in the UK with half a brain looks both ways constantly when crossing the road, whether at traffic lights or not, but traffic lights at least give me the safety of an expectation that people will stop at the lights.

The madness of taking away the red/green man opposite traffic lights and replacing it with ones only visible from the kerb has already taken away that expectation. I am now nervous every time I step off the kerb because I have no idea whether the lights are changing and I should be hurrying up because some careless driver is going to see orange and hit accelerate.

Chris Jackson, London,

Shared surfaces may be Ok as long as you have good eyesight, are agile enough to move quickly out of the way of moving vehicles, have good hearing so you can hear traffic approaching from behind, are totally alert to the dangers, are not otherwise preoccupied with keeping small children safe or worrying about your appointment with your boss or how you will pay your gas bill, are not having to dodge out of the way of free wheeling skateboarders and cyclists or local hoodies etc...... But if you don't have good eyesight or hearing or mobility or understanding or you just feel vulnerable, you will feen unsafe in a shared surface and you will avoid them. this is not good for you or for the economy.

Anne Gray, Tadley, Hampshire

In Somerset, we have the crazy chicanes, where a two lane road is deliberately constricted to one lane - and prority is given to one direction. This system catches many drivers unawares and leads to near head on crashes and generous hand signals!

One confused tourist in alocal town became confused by the blizzard of signs and incorrectly drove down the forbidden High Street. The loacal police were having one of their days out in public and informed the tourist he could be booked for 'Driving without due care and attention'

Also being in the beautiful rural countryside, road signs disappear behind the growing hedges and trees. Surely if the signs are relevant, they should always be visible.

I am all for de-cluttering our roads, removing 'traffic calming' (how patronising) and making sure all signs are relevant ( why do you seldom see a speed limit sign near the speed cameras?).

Now the radical element - put the traffic police back out on the roads'

Stuart, Wessex,

Taking away the signs and railings is one thing, but taking away the kerbs is different: It removes any distinction between pedestrian and vehicle space. Urban roads will feel like car parks. The elderly, the blind, and those with learning disabilities will be confused, and other pedestrians may take less responsibility for their own actions. All in all, this looks like another attempt to 'reclaim the streets' and shift more responsibility (and liability!) on to motorists.

Alan Tanner, Stowmarket, UK

Siem Reap, a small city in Cambodia has just three sets of traffic lights. Road users negotiate intersections with a bullock cart driver mentality. Namely, proceeding slowly into the intersection and never actually stopping. Amazingly it works, but only because everyone is accustomed to this type of driving culture. Introduce this in Europe and you are courting major-league disaster. Because at European speed levels, rapid reaction times are useless when there is no rule of the road. Now turn cross-road intersections into roundabouts and you might be on to something.

Andrew Milner, Phan Thiet City, Vietnam

Maybe the same principle could be applied to laws in general. Labours obsession with legislation is akin to increasing quantities of road restrictions. Perhaps if we had less legislation we may have a society that takes more personal responsiblity....

SI, Nottingham, UK

Why not do away with pavements altogether and allow pedestians to mix freely with the traffic. Could ease congestion too, more space for the cars. Or build and underground network of streets, so all walking, shopping and living takes place underground, level the above ground buildings and tarmac everything over so it becomes one big raceway.

Ron, Milton Keynes, Bucks

Hello, i am glad to see somebody is coming to there senses,road humps, unneeded signs, camera's only cause crashes, sharing the road is the only way to drive safely, advertising signs are another unwanted item and are a cause of crashes, when i am conducting defensive training, i tell them people who are good at sharing make the best drivers, you can only make the best use of the road space available, you will often need to do something a different way to suite the situation, but do it safely, it is the same with speed limits, where a road has no speed limit it is a far safer road, instead of people trying to drive at the speed limit shown.Best Regards Gemini Driving

Francis McBride, ROCHDALE GREATER MANCHEST, Lancashire

Halleluja! Get rid of the railings, sleeping policement, chicanes etc - let pedestrians use the whole of the pavement, let cyclists have a smooth run along the side of the road and allow cars to drive smoothly. Lets spend our money on maintaining good quality surfaces and a clean environment that we can take pride in. Much better for us all.

Pete Hailsham, Hailsham,

By all means try removing barriers, kerbs, crossings and traffic lights. But for this to work safely on high streets or other busy main roads you must surely have a central reservation or at least frequent bollards - i.e. something to mark the middle of the road for pedestrians and give them a moment to switch from looking to their right to looking to their left. Otherwise can you imagine the plight of elderly, disabled or partially-sighted people or children trying to cross safely, possibly getting stranded midway, and the problems this would present for drivers?

Barry, Wallington, UK

"A pedestrian is basically submissive, but naively light-obedient and assumes that perfect safety begins when the lights turn to orange. "

That's nonsense, Bill. I doubt that it describes even your own behaviour, let alone that of Britain's pedestrians.

However, these schemes leave me wondering about drivers who will speed through an area when pedestrian traffic is light - just as they do on residential streets. I would support 'naked streets' if they included stiffer penalties for speeders.

David, Birmingham,

the motorist has too many distractions. mobiles calls, mobile texts, hot ladies in mini skirts, adjusting the ipod..

Just takes one little distraction for the car to go all over the gaffe. at least the current kerbs and barriers gives the pedestrian a chance.

I would rather work on a pavement then a road with cars coming at me!

chetas, croydon, surrey

common sense ideas like this one will never catch on here.

mr barnett, schafhausen, switzerland

I would not be too sure about this. Is it not possible that the slowdown in Drachten was because of, NOT despite, the increase in traffic volume.

We need to remember that there are two psychologies involved here - that of the pedestrian and that of the driver. Neither are perfectly human, or even the same human when transported from one persona to the other.

A pedestrian is basically submissive, but naively light-obedient and assumes that perfect safety begins when the lights turn to orange. A driver, in the other hand, is gripped by a sense of superiority and priority. The orange light is only a warning for those behind. This seems to be a universally observed phenomenon - London, New York, Rome, Naples (especially), Palermo, Bucharest, Berlin, Paris, Beijing and Suzhou (again, especially).

We should proceed with caution here. I especially worry about the parents who thrust push-chairs onto the road before them. They align traffic with their own bodies, not the child's.

Bill , Suzhou, China

It would appear that the Durban Corporation in Soth Africa is way ahead in this thinking. Hundreds of traffic lights are not working for months at a time. Ex Africa etc.

Brian O Cinneide, eThekwini, Afrika Borwa