‘‘Hans soon took to walking backwards with his eyes closed

ICAN still recall the first time I travelled down the Long and Winding Road, the single track that snakes down the east coast of Kintyre and made famous in song by The Beatles. I was in my opentopped Z3 and it was a wonderful summer’s day drive – not only due to the tight twists and fast turns but because every corner revealed a new and spectacular view out over Kilbrannan Sound to Arran.

Now that I’ve lived here eight years, the pleasure of this route remains strong – except, of course, at the height of the tourist season when migrating herds of Winnebagos make their slow, ponderous way to the Mull.

Reversing into soft verges, setting up impromptu barbecues in passing places and generally causing merry mayhem, they’re unapologetically bothersome.

The problem persists even on the two-lane ‘highway’ to Campbeltown – this is what is now popularly termed a naked road. This has nothing to do with naturism. That free-spirited phenomenon takes place on a beach called Cleat’s Shore, a few miles across the water on Arran. Allegedly.

No, it simply means there are no white lines to show how much space you should be taking up: the normal demarcation that helps keep law and order. The nude Tarmac, alas, has seen many a local put in a ditch, or worse, due to an oncomer not pulling far enough into their side of the road.

It’s markedly strange then that the concept of naked streets is being seriously considered as a novel safety measure by some UK councils.

The notion of removing all white lines and even signs originally belonged to a Dutch engineer by the name of Hans Monderman. In the mid-Seventies he opined removing the normal guides to safe passage created so much uncertainty among drivers they were forced to slow down and even make eye contact with one another, as well as acknowledge pedestrians and cyclists.

He finally put this to the test in 2001 when he oversaw the upgrading of a busy four-way intersection in the town centre of Drachten.

He instructed the removal of all traffic lights and warning signs and instead created a raised roundabout of grass.

A year later official figures revealed there had been a huge decrease in traffic congestion, a 50% drop in the number of accidents reported and motorists were now more likely to indicate prior to changing direction – even BMW drivers!

Such was the success of his experiment, our man Hans soon took to walking backwards across the intersection with his eyes closed.

Miraculously, he was never once flattened.

On the contrary, motorists – and even

Lycra-clad cycle couriers – politely worked their way around him.

For Monderman this healthy outcome proved his theory that where there is obvious risk and uncertainty, humans are more likely to be cautious and think about the possible outcomes of their actions.

In this instance, it meant slower and more careful driving behaviour.

Sadly, despite all of the supporting evidence, the good townsfolk of Drachten remained entirely unconvinced. I, too, would have reservations about by Hans’ free driving.

In fact, if I lose one more wing mirror on the road to Campbeltown, person or persons unknown may take matters into their own hands – it’s amazing what a big tin of matt white can do to drop stress levels.