[vintermann]

This happens in Norway too. For instance lots of zebra crossings were scraped away where I live a few years back, because they argued (from accident statistics) it gave pedestrians a false sense of security.

That may be, but it also made 95% of drivers (those obeying traffic regulations) actually stop for you to cross. Obviously they don't if there's no crossing, and you have to wait ten times as long to cross safely.