Accident-free town!

f you find yourself crossing the road in the German town of Bohmte, look both ways – and then perhaps check again.

It has scrapped all its traffic lights and road signs in a radical experiment designed to make the streets safer. Yesterday, the local council said the scheme was a complete success.

In the four weeks since the signs were ripped up, there has not been a single accident.

Officials wanted to test the theory that the 13,000 drivers who use the town every day would take extra care and show each other greater consideration if they were not told what to do.

They secured a £1.8million grant from the European Union to set up the scheme in the town near Hanover.

Four weeks ago, Bohmte banned traffic lights and warning signs, including those instructing drivers to give way or stop.

Only two rules remain – drivers cannot go above 30 mph, the German speed limit for city driving, and everyone has to yield to the right, regardless of whether it is a car, a bike or a mother with a pushchair.

Officials revealed there have been no shunts, bumps or pedestrian injuries in the month since the scheme started.

Previously, there was at least one serious crash every week and scores of lesser 'fender-benders'.

The scheme, based on the idea of 'shared space' from Dutch traffic expert Hans Monderman, will now continue indefinitely. The mayor, Klaus Goedejohann, said: 'Politeness pays – we have proved that.'

Peter Hilbricht, a police officer in charge of traffic planning, added that the main intersection generated about 50 accidents a year before the changes.

'The number plummeted,' he said. 'It has been a sea-change in German attitudes as much as anything else.'

The EU has subsidised similar programmes in seven cities across Europe. Exhibition Road in London has been due to become a 'shared space' for the last three years.

However, funding is an issue and the scheme is not expected to start until next year. One unexpected bonus of the trial in Bohmte is that the town is saving £5,000 a month replacing and repairing signs damaged through normal wear and tear or by vandals.

Cat & Bear Make A Wonderful Odd Couple!

As far as lifelong friendships go, Muschi thinks her large and loveable friend Maeuschen is the cat's pyjamas.
The feline, which struck up the unlikely friendship with the 40-year-old Asian bear eight years ago, now can't bear to be apart from her friend.

In fact, the pair are so close that zookeepers at Berlin Zoo had to reunite them after Muschi, or 'pussy' in German, pined for Maeuschen - 'little mouse' - after they were separated.

The pair were split up last October when the bear was locked in a cage while her living space was enlarged.
The distraught cat soon caught the attention of zoo keepers after she remained sitting outside the bear's cage pining for her friend.
This week, keepers took the unusual step of allowing the feline into the cage with her shaggy-haired pal.'They greeted each other and had a cuddle and now they're happy,' said Heiner Kloes, a member of the zoo's management board.

'The cat has a real fan club, mostly among our older, regular visitors.'
But where Muschi, a normal black domestic cat, came from remains a mystery.
'She appeared from nowhere in 2000 and we decided to leave them together because they got on so well,' Mr Kloes said.

'They sunbathed together and shared meals of raw meat, dead mice, fruit and bread.'

The enlarged enclosure will reopen in the spring.

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