MORE THAN GOOD TIMING. Regular readers will recall that one of the Superintendent's betes noires is maltimed traffic lights. Perhaps abolition of the traffic lights is a superior alternative. Skip at The Sports Economist has discovered a short Regulation essay arguing that although traffic lights cause gridlock, timing them doesn't necessarily help. Other methods of traffic control, including rotaries, four-way stops, and yield signs -- or no signs at all -- might be superior.

These proposals have their pros and cons. In Peking, China, there are many streets with few or no signs ... as long as everyone is courteous and respects "nose position" the traffic, which is often heavy, is at least fluid, in the sense that molasses in January is fluid, but the kind of aggravating stop-and-go common in U.S. cities does not occur.

Britain, however, does not employ the four-way stop. Such configurations can be dangerous. Your turn? No, my turn. Oh, let's both go at once.