'Remove traffic lights and road signs to encourage safer driving', says Louis Sarkozy

The son of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy says removing traffic lights, road markings and signs would encourage “more responsible” driving.

Louis Sarkozy, who is vying to become mayor of Menton (Alpes-Maritimes) in municipal elections this spring, argues that stripping roads would force motorists to slow down, make eye contact with other users, and pay closer attention.

'The solution is more freedom, not less'

His suggestion, made on RMC radio in a section called ‘the voice of the right’, came in response to a study by Fondation VINCI Autoroutes. This highlighted poor behaviour on French roads by drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, such as not using indicators or going through red lights.

“The solution here, as elsewhere, is more freedom, not less,” he said. “What’s deadly for motorists is over-assistance.

“I advocate for a huge simplification of our roads: removing traffic lights, white lines, and road signs. In short: making citizens responsible for their own driving.”

He cited similar ‘naked roads’ or ‘shared space’ experiments in other countries, pioneered by Dutch engineer Hans Monderman in the Netherlands.

Mr Sarkozy said it heightens people’s fear of other road users, which has benefits: “When there are no lights, no pavement, no white lines, everyone takes more care. Citizens become responsible and it creates an implicit negotiation between the users.”

He claimed the results are “amazing” in Drachten, a Dutch town where the idea was first piloted.

According to a study by Cerema, an agency that advises the French state on planning issues, such ‘shared space’ concepts can be “of interest to fight against accidents and conflicts, but are not a universal remedy”.

However, in areas where it had been tried, it proved difficult to stick strictly to the ‘no signs’ rule, the study said. 

It could also create difficulties for disabled people and there was a risk that, with no priority to pedestrians, “it might mean that the ‘rule of the strongest’ prevails”.

Axel Lambert of French cycle users federation FUB said the idea “goes against nearly 50 years of road-safety efforts in France”. He said vulnerable road users such as “pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists” rely on clear rules to navigate public spaces safely.

It would give priority to “the heaviest and fastest vehicles,” he said, adding that “no pilot areas exist” in France that could support such a radical move.

Road-safety organisation Prévention Routière says it can work, but only with strict conditions.

Its research director Christophe Ramond said signage simplification “can make sense, provided it is accompanied by reduced speed limits and suitable adjustments to road layouts”. 

He said 20 years of research in other parts of Europe showed ‘naked roads’ can calm traffic when applied in low-speed, low-traffic zones.

Some French towns had already moved towards reduced signage in certain areas with 30km/h or 20km/h limits, he added, and this could “improve safety and help different road users coexist”.

Low speeds allow users time to react, he said. However, he noted that people with visual impairments may struggle without signage as a safety cue.