Austria’s capital Vienna is carrying out a test which will ban cars on part of the Mariahilfer Strasse, the country's biggest shopping street. The test ban will also make it impossible for drivers to cross the road or to stop.
Lasting for several months and if deemed a success, the test ban could lead to a permanent car ban coupled with pedestrian-friendly construction works from 2014. Critics of the car test ban fear it will drive many shoppers to out of town shopping centres.
According to the UK’s Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), the biggest cause of crashes on UK roads is driver error. Figures from the Department of Transport show that in 2014 driver/rider error or reaction were cited as contributory factors in 74% of accidents, involving more than 117,000 casualties. Some 20,830 of these were in London alone.
