IN 2006, a German town launched a radical experiment to reduce congestion and traffic accidents: it removed almost every road sign.

Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians proved themselves worthy of the trust shown in them and accident numbers plummeted.

The scheme was so successful it gave rise to innovations in town planning like our own “shared space” on New Road, which since 2007 has seen less, and slower, traffic without the need for heavy-handed enforcement or detailed road markings.

Next weekend, if the planned strike by traffic wardens goes ahead, motorists in Brighton will have been gifted another perfect opportunity to show how responsible we can be.

All too often the emergency services are faced with inconsiderate and dangerous parking which puts lives at risk.

Do we need an army of enforcers and the threat of £70 fines to make civic-minded decisions about where we leave our vehicles?

The £16.7 million the city collected from parking charges last year suggests maybe we do.

However only a small proportion of that profit comes from fines and the council would argue that wardens are essential to the smooth running of the city.

And the traffic wardens say their pay has not kept pace with inflation over the last decade.

When one of the country’s most hated professions downs tools there may be much jubilation – it’s easy to joke but these workers are subjected to torrents of abuse.

However perhaps the occasional day of reprieve for both rule-flouting motorists and the 365-day-a-year-working wardens might improve relations on both sides of the double yellow lines.