Via JohnD. Mitchell, an interesting article about a minimalist reaction to the tunnel vision rules promote:

Hans Monderman is a traffic engineer who hates traffic signs. Oh, hecan put up with the well-placed speed limit placard or a dangerouscurve warning on a major highway, but Monderman considers most signsto be not only annoying but downright dangerous. To him, they are anadmission of failure, a sign - literally - that a road designersomewhere hasn't done his job. "The trouble with traffic engineers isthat when there's a problem with a road, they always try to addsomething," Monderman says. "To my mind, it's much better to removethings."

Monderman is one of the leaders of a new breed of traffic engineer -equal parts urban designer, social scientist, civil engineer, andpsychologist. The approach is radically counterintuitive: Build roadsthat seem dangerous, and they'll be safer.