On long weekends when holiday travel crests, the authorities give the motorists a break by banning commercial traffic from the highways.

"It would be better if you didn't have cars in parks," he said, adding that it would create chaos to ban traffic completely during the morning and evening rushes.

In Rome, a new city administration is seeking to ban traffic around the Colosseum to diminish damaging vibrations, but the project is blocked for lack of alternative routes.

It has taken the more severe step of banning direct traffic between the United States and Lagos, Nigeria, because of security problems at the airport in Lagos.

To cope with the increase of traffic due to a growing tourism in the region, Serfaus banned private traffic in winter in the 1970s.

"We'd also like to ban private vehicular traffic altogether on some streets."

The council's decision to ban traffic from Skinnergate and High Row between 10.30am and 4pm, Mondays to Saturdays, is aimed at making shopping safer and more enjoyable.

Member States would also be able to ban or limit recreational traffic on certain lakes.

Either change the technical standards for vehicles, or use less polluting fuels, and they are more sensible solutions, after all, than banning traffic every other day.

A Traffic Regulation order bans general traffic from using these priority lanes during the day, restricting use to buses, Taxis and bicycles.