Pointless road sign?

[V8Wagon]

Driving down the M4 today and my 7 year old son asked why there are signs with deers on them......



I said, it's to warn drivers that there may deer nearby........he asked why?

I couldn't really give him an answer.........I didn't really notice anyone adjusting their driving style while thrumming down the M4 at 80+mph. Really....what a waste of metal!

[Dryce]

Well clearly it is pointless if people don't know what it actually means.

It's a warning of wild animals on the road - not just deer.

And as for deer? They can make your day a bad one if you hit one.

[ModernAndy]

I'm not sure it's a waste of a sign as it is pointing out a dangerous (potentially fatal) hazard but it probably ain't going to have any bearing on many people's driving as you say. Hopefully they'll slow down if they see a couple of eyes reflecting their headlights on the verge.

[V8Wagon]

I know what it means, and if I was on a road out in the sticks then I'd probably be paying more attention.........hurtling down the M4 in a fast moving flow of traffic, I was struck by the fact that no-one appeared to change their behaviour in light of the 'wild animals' waiting in the wings ready to chance their luck to 'get to the other side'

[Disastrous]

Falling rocks is my favourite pointless sign.

What in hell are you supposed to do with that information? "Quick! Raise the roof armour!" "We don't have any roof armour!" "Oh, then just do nothing and let's hope we don't get crushed by a rock".

Absurd signage.

[calibrax]

Disastrous said:

Falling rocks is my favourite pointless sign.

What in hell are you supposed to do with that information? "Quick! Raise the roof armour!" "We don't have any roof armour!" "Oh, then just do nothing and let's hope we don't get crushed by a rock".

Absurd signage.

But if rocks are likely to fall, they may already be sitting on the road in your way, so the sign alerts you, then you can be on the lookout for them.

[Disastrous]

calibrax said:

Disastrous said:

Falling rocks is my favourite pointless sign.

What in hell are you supposed to do with that information? "Quick! Raise the roof armour!" "We don't have any roof armour!" "Oh, then just do nothing and let's hope we don't get crushed by a rock".

Absurd signage.

But if rocks are likely to fall, they may already be sitting on the road in your way, so the sign alerts you, then you can be on the lookout for them.

I'd hope most people are reasonably alert to 'things being in the middle of the road' when driving.

[calibrax]

Disastrous said:

I'd hope most people are reasonably alert to 'things being in the middle of the road' when driving.

Agree, but then you could say the same about pretty much any sign... junction, right turn, bend in road, road narrows, end of dual carriageway, hump back bridge... the list goes on!

[Impasse]

It's worth remembering that deer very rarely travel in solitude and prefer the comfort of more than one of their friends or family to jump about with. If you've seen one, great. But be mindful you may not have seen its companion.

[AdeTuono]

Impasse said:

It's worth remembering that deer very rarely travel in solitude and prefer the comfort of more than one of their friends or family to jump about with. If you've seen one, great. But be mindful you may not have seen its companion.

They need another sign with two deer on it. Or swans. Or bears. Do we have bears in this country?

[rhinochopig]

AdeTuono said:

Impasse said:

It's worth remembering that deer very rarely travel in solitude and prefer the comfort of more than one of their friends or family to jump about with. If you've seen one, great. But be mindful you may not have seen its companion.

They need another sign with two deer on it. Or swans. Or bears. Do we have bears in this country?

Yeah, there is a club in Manchester for them just of canal street.

[grayze]

calibrax said:

Agree, but then you could say the same about pretty much any sign... junction, right turn, bend in road, road narrows, end of dual carriageway, hump back bridge... the list goes on!

These are all tangible hazards. What do you do to avoid falling rocks? Go faster ? Go slower?

[Negative Creep]

Disastrous said:

calibrax said:

Disastrous said:

Falling rocks is my favourite pointless sign.

What in hell are you supposed to do with that information? "Quick! Raise the roof armour!" "We don't have any roof armour!" "Oh, then just do nothing and let's hope we don't get crushed by a rock".

Absurd signage.

But if rocks are likely to fall, they may already be sitting on the road in your way, so the sign alerts you, then you can be on the lookout for them.

I'd hope most people are reasonably alert to 'things being in the middle of the road' when driving.

Or the low flying aircraft one. Not quite sure what you're supposed to do to avoid them

[Collaudatore]

grayze said:

These are all tangible hazards. What do you do to avoid falling rocks? Go faster ? Go slower?

Faster, obviously!!

I have seen a sign with a squirrel on it.
I st you not.

[CommanderJameson]

Negative Creep said:

Or the low flying aircraft one. Not quite sure what you're supposed to do to avoid them

Not crap yourself and drive into a ditch when you see/hear one?

[RizzoTheRat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXErTzBBG_k



I saw one the other day saying "Dangerous overhead cables" What am I supposed to do about that? There wasn't even a height limit sign to ensure overheight vehicles don't hit them.

[Vladimir]

It seems that many of you don't realise that a deer sign means "wild animals" so isn't just our antlered friends.

I have seen a frog sign - French drivers ahead? ;-)

[Stack]

About a year ago I was heading up the A68 with on colleague on my way to Edinburgh & when we went past a deer sign , I commented that those signs were pointless .

Around 30 secs later a deer leapt across with road in front of us & it was a bloody big beast !

[LC2]

V8Wagon said:

Driving down the M4 today and my 7 year old son asked why there are signs with deers on them......



I said, it's to warn drivers that there may deer nearby........he asked why?

I couldn't really give him an answer.........I didn't really notice anyone adjusting their driving style while thrumming down the M4 at 80+mph. Really....what a waste of metal!

No no no, the sign isn't for you, it's so that the deer know where it's safe to cross.
Though why the highways agency would think that it's safe for deer to cross the M4 is anyone's guess. Maybe they should be asked to move the deer crossings...
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2012/10/1...
(It's worth listening to all the podcast segments).

[Aeroresh]

Pointless on a motorway! You would have to drive at urban speeds to avoid hitting dear sized animals and that would cause more chaos then hitting the animal in the first place.

A better option might be to put more effort into keeping wild animals off the motorway? Eg high level fencing, etc

Other roads, the signs have their place.