RE: We suffer from info overload: research
Friday 17th February 2006
Too many signs?Motorists are in danger of crashing because of an inability to decipher all the information that is thrown at them on their journeys, according to the director of the RAC Foundation speaking at the Institute of Highways and Transport "Driver Information" conference in London today.
We suffer from info overload: research
Too many signs and distractions cause crashes
Too many signs?
Foundation director Edmund King will tell delegates that signs that are clear, concise, relevant, reliable and timely can improve safety and reduce the number of drivers who get lost each day. Conversely clutters of contradictory signs lead to confusion that can result in collisions.
King will argue that sometimes information overload means that motorists can miss the most important information. Most drivers when concentrating hard to follow directions in an unknown area will turn down the radio and tell passengers to be quiet. They do this instinctively to avoid information overload.
The Foundation’s motoring psychologist has argued that "five plus or minus two" is the amount of messages or points of information that we can think of and take in at any one time. If we are focusing on too many messages then we can miss some crucial information. Driving in a rural area with traffic news on the radio, instructions from satnav, over-complex road signs with four different messages, means we may miss the Flood sign. We may see it but not take it in. We then end up in deep water.
Surveys by the Foundation show that more than half of UK motorists admit to not understanding even basic signs in the Highway Code and over half admit to getting lost during holiday journeys. In urban areas at any particular time up to 15 per cent of drivers are estimated to be lost.
Yet across the UK, thousands of road signs which give route directions, street names, limits or hazards are confusing or have disappeared, been knocked down, obscured with grime or foliage or have been damaged.
A psychiatrist at King’s College, London said that information overload can harm concentration more than marijuana with men twice as likely to be distracted than women. Information overload can reduce a person’s ability to focus as much as losing a night’s sleep.
Roads authorities can play their part by ensuring that road signs spring no surprises and do not contribute to that confusion. Carriageway markings and road signs are a cheap and cost effective way of reducing accidents but only if they are clear, relevant and timely.
King will suggest that road authorities review signing:
- Signage at locations with a history of collisions should be examined to ensure that it is legible and simple to follow. While the onus is on drivers to learn signs and re-visit the Highway Code, confusing and poorly maintained signage can contribute to road collisions.
- Signs should be erected - or road surfaces marked - much further back from all multi-lane entries to tell drivers which lane they need to get into. With better advanced signing, drivers who don’t know a road will be able to get into the correct entry lane sooner and not have to weave at the last moment.
- All road signs should be regularly maintained, cleaned, kept free of foliage and be accurate. Examples of confusing signs have included a bilingual traffic sign in Wales which gave pedestrians contradictory instructions in English and in Welsh or the vandalised sign for Skelmsdale Baths - abbreviated to: "Swim in poo".
King will also argue that journey pre-planning by motorists and use of sophisticated navigation/congestion avoidance systems like Smart Nav can help motorists to avoid confusion caused by confusing signs.
He might have added that fewer speed cameras would help...
Discussion
There's waaaay to much street furniture on UK roads. Islands, bollards, humps, pillows, fences, a separate pole for every street sign, half a dozen different road markings instructing you at any one time in town...
It's just another form of poor graphic design: there is now so much information that people no longer get anything meaningful from most of it; any one sign starts to loose its significance in the visual clutter.
Surely driving doesn't need to be this compicated?
It's just another form of poor graphic design: there is now so much information that people no longer get anything meaningful from most of it; any one sign starts to loose its significance in the visual clutter.
Surely driving doesn't need to be this compicated?
and people getting stufd with more and more info, that way they get a overload and can explode easely! so danger and agression on the streets! unsafe. A side comment on "drivers getting lost" 
I'd like to point out how rubbish direction signs are!
Let's say you're in Bournemouth and want to head back up Winchester/Basingstoke/London way - you have to follow signs for Ringwood. How stupid is that? A foreigner that's just landed at Bournemouth airport wouldn't know that, and it even confuses me sometimes.
"I just want to go East! I want to go home! I want to go in the direction of London! Where the f*** is Ringwood?!"
Typically, wherever you are in the UK you almost never see signs pointing out major cities or saying "North" or "South" - you just get the name of two indiscriminate towns that you've never heard of! Maddening!
I'd like to point out how rubbish direction signs are! Let's say you're in Bournemouth and want to head back up Winchester/Basingstoke/London way - you have to follow signs for Ringwood. How stupid is that? A foreigner that's just landed at Bournemouth airport wouldn't know that, and it even confuses me sometimes.
"I just want to go East! I want to go home! I want to go in the direction of London! Where the f*** is Ringwood?!"
Typically, wherever you are in the UK you almost never see signs pointing out major cities or saying "North" or "South" - you just get the name of two indiscriminate towns that you've never heard of! Maddening!
What has suprised me over the last few days, are the people on the news saying that using the phone (hands free)and listening to Sat Nav in cars is causing more accidents than ever, I am sure it was much more dangerous when I used to print directions off multimap and try and read them at the same time as driving.
>> Edited by spdpug98 on Friday 17th February 11:33
>> Edited by spdpug98 on Friday 17th February 11:33
spdpug98 said:
What has suprised me over the last few days, are the people on the news saying that using the phone (hands free)and listening to Sat Nav in cars is causing more accidents than ever, I am sure it was much more dangerous when I used to print directions off multimap and try and read them at the same time as driving.
>> Edited by spdpug98 on Friday 17th February 11:33
good point well made.
RobM77 said:
What has suprised me over the last few days, are the people on the news saying that using the phone (hands free)and listening to Sat Nav in cars is causing more accidents than ever, I am sure it was much more dangerous when I used to print directions off multimap and try and read them at the same time as driving.
>> Edited by spdpug98 on Friday 17th February 11:33
good point well made.
News, anyone who says anything on the news is usually wrong or has the wrong end of a long and very complicated stick.
Best to ignore the news!
Dave
ubergreg said:
There's waaaay to much street furniture on UK roads. Islands, bollards, humps, pillows, fences, a separate pole for every street sign, half a dozen different road markings instructing you at any one time in town...
It's just another form of poor graphic design: there is now so much information that people no longer get anything meaningful from most of it; any one sign starts to loose its significance in the visual clutter.
Surely driving doesn't need to be this complicated?
No it doesn't. I ignore most of the clutter and just concentrate on:
a) The layout of the road,
b) Things that are moving,
c) Things that might move,
d) Keeping an eye open for things that might appear and need dealing with.
When I've said this sort of thing previously some people have taken me to task for not being sufficiently observant, but I can assure you it works just fine.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
TripleS said:
No it doesn't. I ignore most of the clutter and just concentrate on:
a) The layout of the road,
b) Things that are moving,
c) Things that might move,
d) Keeping an eye open for things that might appear and need dealing with.
When I've said this sort of thing previously some people have taken me to task for not being sufficiently observant, but I can assure you it works just fine.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
Surely though Dave, this only works when you know where you are going?
Indeed. Going back to my post - imagine that you are approaching a junction in the midlands and you need to go London. One way is to Wigglesworth, and the other is to Badger's Bottom. You have 30 seconds to find out which one is South, and therefore the right direction. Those 30 seconds will be spent miles away trying to remember where Badger's Bottom is, or buried in the map on your passenger seat. The truth is, that 30 seconds before approaching a major junction should be a key moment for observation and action if you want to stay safe. Better signing would simply read "A123 South" and "A123 North", so you can make an instant decision and get on with driving. Regarding the news story, it would also help if other signs weren't also telling you lots of spurious information!
pbirkett said:
No it doesn't. I ignore most of the clutter and just concentrate on:
a) The layout of the road,
b) Things that are moving,
c) Things that might move,
d) Keeping an eye open for things that might appear and need dealing with.
When I've said this sort of thing previously some people have taken me to task for not being sufficiently observant, but I can assure you it works just fine.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
Surely though Dave, this only works when you know where you are going?
Oh yes sorry, a bit of over-simplification on my part. I find the Navman very helpful these days, but apart from that I do have to pay some attention to direction signs, but most of the remainder is wasted on me.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
said:Off Topic, but who is the invisible poster?
Indeed. Going back to my post - imagine that you are approaching a junction in the midlands and you need to go London. One way is to Wigglesworth, and the other is to Badger's Bottom. You have 30 seconds to find out which one is South, and therefore the right direction. Those 30 seconds will be spent miles away trying to remember where Badger's Bottom is, or buried in the map on your passenger seat. The truth is, that 30 seconds before approaching a major junction should be a key moment for observation and action if you want to stay safe. Better signing would simply read "A123 South" and "A123 North", so you can make an instant decision and get on with driving. Regarding the news story, it would also help if other signs weren't also telling you lots of spurious information!
Zod said:
Indeed. Going back to my post - imagine that you are approaching a junction in the midlands and you need to go London. One way is to Wigglesworth, and the other is to Badger's Bottom. You have 30 seconds to find out which one is South, and therefore the right direction. Those 30 seconds will be spent miles away trying to remember where Badger's Bottom is, or buried in the map on your passenger seat. The truth is, that 30 seconds before approaching a major junction should be a key moment for observation and action if you want to stay safe. Better signing would simply read "A123 South" and "A123 North", so you can make an instant decision and get on with driving. Regarding the news story, it would also help if other signs weren't also telling you lots of spurious information!
That would be me: RobM77. For some reason every now and then my posts come on invisible! I've no idea why!
Indeed, we do suffer from information overload (Richard Porter wrote about this in Feb issue of EVO) What makes it more annoying is when information boards on the M40 display ''warning traffic after next junction'' at 2 in the morning on a Sunday.
It may be a case of boy who cried wolf, as sooner or later i will ignore one and there will be a freak accident after enxt junction.
It may be a case of boy who cried wolf, as sooner or later i will ignore one and there will be a freak accident after enxt junction.
Did anyone else notice the plug for SmartNav (because their core product just speaks to you and doesn't have an in car screen) and the implied put down of other devices like Tomtom et al (with their terribly distracting in-car screens)
Could that be anything to do with the fact that the RAC sell SmartNav and are actually business partner of Trafficmaster (the makers of SmartNav)
Come on Edmund - you should be above that. Play nice now!
Could that be anything to do with the fact that the RAC sell SmartNav and are actually business partner of Trafficmaster (the makers of SmartNav)
Come on Edmund - you should be above that. Play nice now!
RobM77 said:
A side comment on "drivers getting lost"
Let's say you're in Bournemouth and want to head back up Winchester/Basingstoke/London way - you have to follow signs for Ringwood. How stupid is that? A foreigner that's just landed at Bournemouth airport wouldn't know that, and it even confuses me sometimes.
"I just want to go East! I want to go home! I want to go in the direction of London! Where the f*** is Ringwood?!"
Typically, wherever you are in the UK you almost never see signs pointing out major cities or saying "North" or "South" - you just get the name of two indiscriminate towns that you've never heard of! Maddening!
Sorry, can't agree with that. If you want to go to Bournemouth from London, are there any signs with Bournemouth on them? No, they only point to Southampton at best. It would take a REALLY big sign to state all the towns and cities that are accessible via the M3.
Following signs saying "East" from Bournemouth would leave you in Dover. Most foreigners would fly into London, not Bournemouth and the rest would take the train to the big smog.
Or are you suggesting that every town in the country has a big "LONDON THIS WAY" sign because we all know that London IS the UK and the rest is just a suburb.
Besides, we don't like city-folk down here in Dorset and if we can persuade them not to come back, it might stop the spiralling house prices.
Ian A.
IPAddis said:
A side comment on "drivers getting lost"
Let's say you're in Bournemouth and want to head back up Winchester/Basingstoke/London way - you have to follow signs for Ringwood. How stupid is that? A foreigner that's just landed at Bournemouth airport wouldn't know that, and it even confuses me sometimes.
"I just want to go East! I want to go home! I want to go in the direction of London! Where the f*** is Ringwood?!"
Typically, wherever you are in the UK you almost never see signs pointing out major cities or saying "North" or "South" - you just get the name of two indiscriminate towns that you've never heard of! Maddening!
Sorry, can't agree with that. If you want to go to Bournemouth from London, are there any signs with Bournemouth on them? No, they only point to Southampton at best. It would take a REALLY big sign to state all the towns and cities that are accessible via the M3.
Following signs saying "East" from Bournemouth would leave you in Dover. Most foreigners would fly into London, not Bournemouth and the rest would take the train to the big smog.
Or are you suggesting that every town in the country has a big "LONDON THIS WAY" sign because we all know that London IS the UK and the rest is just a suburb.
Besides, we don't like city-folk down here in Dorset and if we can persuade them not to come back, it might stop the spiralling house prices.
Ian A.
I'm with Rob on this one...
The amount of times I've reached junctions which only sign the next town/village/hamlet without mentioning the major destinations on that route astounds me. I'd much prefer if signs showed a combination of the two allowing drivers to get their bearings more easily. It's hard to identify which exit to take if the signs only show near destinations.
Personally I navigate by a series of waypoints. Ie, i'd know i want to get to somewhere between rushden and cambridge from banbury. So i'd look for signs for northampton > wellingborough > rushden > cambridge. It is only at the last step that the detail provided by most signs becomes relevant.
Yes, my point was that I get sick of seeing small places signed that I've never heard of on major roads. Most people on the A46, the A3 or the A303 just want to know which way is North and which way is South because they're making long journeys, not which way some small town is that they've never heard of. This used to constantly bug me when I was driving around with my job.
MisterT said:
In my extensive driving experience all over the UK I've come to realise that most direction signs are geared up for the locals. Mostly the locals already know where they're going so ignore the direction signs! Logic therefore suggests most road signs are not needed.
I'll second that.
Oh, sorry - looks like you already did
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