Eliminating traffic signals: What works for Britain is unlikely to work in India

It’s not often that the world’s devil-may-care drivers get the green signal from the research establishment. A think tank has recommended that 80% of Britain’s traffic lights should be removed. Even the reason given for the suggestion is unusual: that excessive traffic lights and speed breakers are “damaging the economy” as two-minute delays to every car trip adds up to £16 billion in costs, including more fuel consumption (due to more braking and accelerations) and consequences such as more emissions and noise pollution. Be that as it may, the alternative offered sounds particularly optimistic about basic human nature, especially of the rather common urban species called road hogs: substituting such mechanical traffic regulations with strategies that “harness voluntary cooperation among road-users”.

The average British driver may be amenable to sweet reasonableness on the road, but it is very unlikely that carefree Indian drivers, thus unburdened by regulations, will submit willingly to self-regulation in this aspect when such accommodation is not forthcoming from them in most other aspects of civic life here. Sadly then, such signal-less roads to speedier economic growth will not work here. But excessive traffic regulations as a hindrance could perhaps be added to the list of factors holding India back?