Whoever came up with this cockamamie proposal clearly has no clue what’s really going on out there on the roads. Road speeding/danger/stress has absolutely nothing to do with signs or perceptions of streets being shared spaces, and absolutely everything to do with the fact that people drive with everything on their minds except driving. Here’s what’s going on in the mind of the typical North American driver going through the suburbs– and this assumes the driver is NOT on a cell phone:

“Maaan what’s up with this traffic! I’m going to be late to work for the third time this week. My boss is going to eat me alive. Hey, but he sure is cute. Maybe he’ll notice me this time. I oughta get my hair re-permed. Maybe I should give Alice a call again. Oh, but she’ll want to color it again. Aaahh! That last appointment turned out sooo ugly. Made me look like that whore on American Idol. But that other guy from New York was cute. Maybe I should try out. Whoops! Was that a stop sign? Oh well, probably doesn’t matter. …BUMP! Maan, that pedestrian bouncing off my roof sure looked ticked. What’s his problem anyway? He’s probably rich, and doesn’t have to deal with a boss who’s as big a jerk as mine…”

Since we know the average American has the mental capacity of a walnut, and can barely understand street signs as they are, how can we possibly expect them to navigate without them– or worse, figure out how to mentally shift between signed zones and non-signed zones?

You know what I think is really going on here? This is a big conspiracy by the broadband industry to make our roads so dangerous as to be not worth the trouble, and in so doing force the entire population of the country to telecommute.