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And as example they picked Vietnam, Ethiopia and India to show that unshaped traffic works. But: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-rel

And as example they picked Vietnam, Ethiopia and India to show that unshaped traffic works. But: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate#/media/File:Road_traffic_accidents_world_map_-_Death_-_WHO2013.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-r... Looks like its worse by a factor of around 5.

yohannesk 3y ago
I am from Ethiopia. I can confirm that it does not work. I wouldn't recommend tourists to drive here unless they stay at least a month observing how traffic works. Years ago when I started driving, I use to slow down, be attentive, allow people to go first but through time I learned (was forced?) to be like the average driver or I couldn't get anywhere. This[1] place is renovated now but there are other squares where people drive like this. It's prone to traffic accidents [1] https://youtu.be/UEIn8GJIg0E https://youtu.be/UEIn8GJIg0E
- 123pie123 3y ago
  I think that it works best when the traffic density is below a certain level. When traffic becomes busy some order is needed
- SapporoChris 3y ago
  Amazing video. My jaw dropped watching it. However I then realized the video playback is quite speed up. Perhaps as much as x4. Still a very interesting video.
qwytw 3y ago
And it's not even adjusted by miles/km driven which I assume is significantly lower there (e.g. the US is not that bad compared to Eastern Europe or Belgium if you take into account that Americans driven much more on average).
Drunk_Engineer 3y ago
This factor of 5 difference in 3rd world countries might actually be explained by Smeed's Curve: "In 1947 Ruben Smeed, the founding father of transport studies in Britain, discovered an intriguing statistical relationship [for 20 countries] between the number of cars per person, and the road accident fatality rate per car. The data revealed that as numbers of cars increased, the death rate per car plummeted. "The Smeed Curve might be considered a societal learning curve. As one encounters more cars people, literally, learn how to live with them. Another part of the explanation might be found in contemplation of other societal changes that accompany rising car ownership. Car ownership correlates highly with measures of affluence. Death rates per car decrease as affluence increases. "When cars are few in number most fatalities are vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists). As vehicle numbers increase the vulnerable retreat." http://john-adams.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/shared%20space.pdf http://john-adams.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/shared%20...
- blueflow 3y ago
  > His hypothesis in relation to road traffic safety has been refuted by several authors, who point out that fatalities per person have decreased in many countries, when according to Smeed's law requires they should increase as long as the number of vehicles per person continues to rise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smeed's_law#Empirical_contradictions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smeed's_law#Empirical_contradi...

yohannesk 3y ago

I am from Ethiopia. I can confirm that it does not work. I wouldn't recommend tourists to drive here unless they stay at least a month observing how traffic works. Years ago when I started driving, I use to slow down, be attentive, allow people to go first but through time I learned (was forced?) to be like the average driver or I couldn't get anywhere. This[1] place is renovated now but there are other squares where people drive like this. It's prone to traffic accidents [1] https://youtu.be/UEIn8GJIg0E https://youtu.be/UEIn8GJIg0E

123pie123 3y ago
I think that it works best when the traffic density is below a certain level. When traffic becomes busy some order is needed
SapporoChris 3y ago
Amazing video. My jaw dropped watching it. However I then realized the video playback is quite speed up. Perhaps as much as x4. Still a very interesting video.

qwytw 3y ago

And it's not even adjusted by miles/km driven which I assume is significantly lower there (e.g. the US is not that bad compared to Eastern Europe or Belgium if you take into account that Americans driven much more on average).

Drunk_Engineer 3y ago

This factor of 5 difference in 3rd world countries might actually be explained by Smeed's Curve: "In 1947 Ruben Smeed, the founding father of transport studies in Britain, discovered an intriguing statistical relationship [for 20 countries] between the number of cars per person, and the road accident fatality rate per car. The data revealed that as numbers of cars increased, the death rate per car plummeted. "The Smeed Curve might be considered a societal learning curve. As one encounters more cars people, literally, learn how to live with them. Another part of the explanation might be found in contemplation of other societal changes that accompany rising car ownership. Car ownership correlates highly with measures of affluence. Death rates per car decrease as affluence increases. "When cars are few in number most fatalities are vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists). As vehicle numbers increase the vulnerable retreat." http://john-adams.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/shared%20space.pdf http://john-adams.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/shared%20...

blueflow 3y ago
> His hypothesis in relation to road traffic safety has been refuted by several authors, who point out that fatalities per person have decreased in many countries, when according to Smeed's law requires they should increase as long as the number of vehicles per person continues to rise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smeed's_law#Empirical_contradictions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smeed's_law#Empirical_contradi...