Motorway Matrix Boards - what would you WANT them to say?

[devnull]

After spending hundreds of thousands of miles going up and down the various motorways in this country, I've always thought we could be doing a better job at utilising the motorway signs that our hardearned taxpaying cash has gone towards installing and showing more information.

Especially in Wales, it never ceases to amuse me when it's tipping down with rain and the sign says 'Poor Driving Conditions'. Call me crazy, but I'm sure the vast majority of us can tell when the conditions aren't perfect.

What useful information would you like to see on a matrix board when going down the motorway? (Aside from essential information when describing upcoming hazards). Perhaps, instead of showing just a blank sign and the time in quiet times, the sign should show a constant traffic summary - certainly the further east you go down the M4, we get a version of this (e.g. 30 Miles / 28 Minutes to Maidenhead). Even a cheesy motivational message would be nice, or perhaps a driving fact (e.g. 87657890876 people died on this stretch due to speeding - actually, scratch that idea).

Thoughts?

[thinfourth2]

Look what we pissed your
money away on this time
SUCKERS

[Condi]

"You there - have a fantastic day."




Some of them do show times/miles to important junctions.

[furrywoolyhatuk]

Stop hogging the middle lane!

[gp1699]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eUZJ4pcFSk

[Silverbullet767]

Keep left unless overtaking.

Keep that heap of st on the left.

Stop holding people up dipst.

[falkster]

A simple message

Keep left unless overtaking you thick c**t

[billzeebub]

-Mirror, Signal, Manouvere (yes, even you in the diesel Audi Sportline)

-Keep left unless overtaking (yes, even you in the diesel Audi Sportline)

-keep your distance (yes, even you in the diesel Audi Sportline)

Edited by billzeebub on Tuesday 1st January 16:28

Edited by billzeebub on Tuesday 1st January 17:38

[rumple]

Keep your fking eyes on the road.

[WhereamI]

Showing nothing is better than distracting people with unnecessary messages. Since most people can see them before they can read them they are sat there trying to work out what they say rather than focussing on driving.

Telling of queues ahead is good, so long as its true, but quite why I need to know of problems a hundred miles away in the other direction is always a mystery to me.

Personally for the amounts of times they've told me anything useful I'd switch them all off.

[bebee]

what do you want for tea?

[Terzo123]

tt in the Audi with the s-line bobbles, could you be a considerate gent and kindly fk off over from lane three which you are hogging. Thank you

[Apache]

Nothing, switch em off and save the money. In all my years of driving all they have told me is that the time to a juction I am not bothered about will take so long, it's foggy (no st)or don't drive if you're tired. Utterly pointless and a disgraceful waste of money

[andy-xr]

I want to be able to wave at myself while having a photo taken. 500 yards before the sign they should have a camera, like they do on the rides at Alton Towers. Those yellow boxes dont quite do the same thing, maybe there's a use for them instead

[Megaflow]

Something relevant, not something that is out of date by about two weeks and definitely not HSE type drive safe type messages, the ones during the fire strike really got on my tits.

[falkster]

WhereamI said:

Showing nothing is better than distracting people with unnecessary messages. Since most people can see them before they can read them they are sat there trying to work out what they say rather than focussing on driving.

Telling of queues ahead is good, so long as its true, but quite why I need to know of problems a hundred miles away in the other direction is always a mystery to me.

Personally for the amounts of times they've told me anything useful I'd switch them all off.

I hardly think a sentence of 4 words is distracting. If a driver can't read one sentence without losing control of their car, smashing into every other car shouldn't really be on the road.

[juan king]

You in the Audi, nice imagine.

[WhereamI]

falkster said:

I hardly think a sentence of 4 words is distracting. If a driver can't read one sentence without losing control of their car, smashing into every other car shouldn't really be on the road.

It's not the reading it when you can that's the issue, it's the trying to work out what it's saying when it is still too far away to read that is distracting and unnecessary when it's just displaying pointless crap.

[Grodecki]

KEEP LEFT.

[swisstoni]

Is it me or do the red warning lights across the motorway sometimes to a sort of a fast ripple from left to right.
That's pretty distracting, as I end up wondering if I'm hallicinating.