“There it is! The lights are turning on – we’re getting closer and closer to it. And…. It works!”. Stefan Ladwig, coordinator of the MeBeSafe EU project, is delighted. MeBeSafe is all about nudging for safer traffic, and the first so-called nudge has just been put on a road.

Car after car drives down the road while specially adapted roadside lights flicker on and off. And the drivers seem to react.

This mysterious light-switching-device is one of the things MeBeSafe has produced to make traffic safer. At present, the classic way of making traffic safer is to prohibit all dangerous behaviour.

But rules and laws can only work if people recall them and actively choose to follow them. If subjected to strict surveillance and tough enforcement, most people will likely obey – but that means we have used fear to control people. Why not give them the option to make a safe choice on their own?