Gary Lauder produces a strong case for abandoning 'stop signs' and 'yield signs' in favor of roundabouts and "Take Turns" signs. He provides numbers showing time savings, money savings and pollution reduction as some of the by-products of changing our way of thinking about intersections. Take into the formula more congeniality and less stress producing calmer, happier drivers and it seems like a great solution to an urban annoyance encountered many times in any commute.
Gary Lauder is the Managing Partner of Lauder Partners LLC, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm investing primarily in information technologies.
He has been a venture capitalist since 1985, investing in some 60 private companies.
He is also chair of ActiveVideo Networks, a developer of interactive television technology for cable, IPTV and other forms of internet delivery. Other directorships: Promptu, MediaFriends and ShotSpotter. Investments are primarily in television/IPTV technology and web arenas.
He is the co-creator of the Aspen Institute's Socrates Society with Laura, his wife. He has had a working cable modem (usually) in his home since 1994. He is co-inventor of 10 patents, has spoken at some 80 industry forums, and, since 1992, has published several articles about the future of the cable industry ... that he still stands by.
"I do like the mention of "if cars are waiting please alternate". Politeness surely can't hurt!"Pierre Mol, blog.ted.com
Gary Lauder on the Web
Maybe a new street sign is what the world needs now
What’s the best way to keep automobile traffic moving calmly and rationally through an intersection? It’s not a stoplight, it’s not a stop sign, and it’s not a yield sign (who knows what to do at a yield?).
In Session 6, Gary Lauder suggests we “Take Turns.”
Roundabouts are the best way to build intersections, he notes, but where those are not practical, instead of a ring of stop signs, some of those signs should be replaced with a new kind of sign that can save millions of dollars PER SIGN.
Here’s the street sign the world needs now. Half a stop and half a yield, the sign gives each driver a clear indication of how to behave. Below the red “Take Turns” shield is a small sign reading, “If Cars Are Waiting, Please Stop and Alternate.” And if there are no cars waiting, just blow on through. (No more stopping at red lights at 4am, on a country road, when there’s no one around for miles.)
Lauder has registered the sign with a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license —
so share it freely (just credit him, don’t modify the sign, and don’t
sell it). And imagine a world where every street sign contains the word
“Please.”
Source is TED Blog:
http://blog.ted.com/2010/02/11/maybe_a_new_str/
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