Electronic signs on the M6 - How hard can it be ?

[adrianmugridge]

I've just driven down the M6 heading south at around 11:00 ish. Around junction 30 the big electronic signs read "Slow Moving Wide Load". Very good I thought, best to move it on Saturday and not at night ! But , then it gets better. I easily spotted the slow moving wide load. About 2 minutes later, there it was, it was wide and it was slow moving. And where was it, I hear you ask ? On the M6 heading North !! For the next few miles all the signs on the southbound side had the same message and looking in my rear view mirror I spotted that the northbound signs said nothing !! Good one !! Tricky that, not being able to tell north from south. I assume that was done by the same tossers who leave the "Fog" or "Accident" signs up for about 12 hours after the accident has been cleared or the fog as been blown away and then wonder why no one takes a blind bit of notice of them !!!!

[adrianmugridge]

The reason people ignore them is because more often than not they are wrong. How many times have you driven down a motorway, seen a sign saying accident/congestion etc, so you slow down. Then, a few miles later, after no incident, you see the all clear sign ?

I think the signs are a great idea in theory, but in practice they dont work because they are not kept up to date, so drivers ignore them.

[adrianmugridge]

Streetcop said:

adrianmugridge said: The reason people ignore them is because more often than not they are wrong. Not exactly defensive driving then... What happens at Give Way signs...do you career through them as they are often wrong as many times there isn't any traffic to 'give way' to... Street

I fail to see what a Give Way sign has to do with the issue of signs giving wrong information. A Give Way sign means stop if something is coming, but you don't have to stop if the road is clear, unlike a Stop sign where you have to stop regardless.

Therefore, they are never wrong, are they ? They just inform you of the type of junction you are approaching.

Would you expect to see a road sign saying cross-roads when the was not one? or a sharp bend sign on a straight road ? No, you would not. Ofcause, the only exception is a camera sign, but that's a different matter.

If you put up signs that are wrong a lot of time then people are bound to ignore them. It's called crying wolf, in the end no one takes any notice.

[adrianmugridge]

Reading the stuff about the signs saying "Don't drink and drive" has just reminded me of the best sign on a motorway I've ever seen. When the firemen where on strike a couple of years ago, I was on the M62 and the electronic signs said something like this :

"Firefighers Strike, Take extra care not to have an accident"

What ? Good one, are they saying it's okay to have a crash normally because the firemen will come and save you but best not to have one whilst they are on strike, eh ? What total knobhead came up with that one ? Infact, I know who it was, it was the same knobhead that worked for Travel Lodge at the same time who put a card in my room asking me to be extra careful with fags and matches in case I set light to the hotel because there was a strike !! And it's also the same cretin that puts the "Pull Back, Baby on Board" signs in the back of their cars. Oh yes, normally I'd crash my car into the back of yours but as you have your ankle-biter in the back seat I won't do that today !!