RE: Signage Overload
Discussion
TripleS said:
Mr Whippy said:
Parrot of Doom said:
THEY are what do my head in.
A speed limit change is usually given with a HUGE sign anyway, easily 2ft across and visible from 100 yards. So WHY OH WHY do we need markers saying 3 > 2 > 1, bumps in the road, red patches and all that junk?
Dave
I don't mind the 3, 2, 1 countdown markers on the approach to a 30 limit, and there are places where that advance warning can be helpful. You're right about all the road paint though. We could do without most of that IMHO, then we might derive more benefit from what remains - and the same applies with signs in general.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
Peter Ward said:
And then there's the raised yellow rumble strips, that inexplicably go ALL THE WAY across the road rather than just on the side that (some road engineer thinks) needs it.
And equally inexplicably coincide with the braking zone for the hazard, which means the car is destabalised just as you're getting on the brakes. Genius.
As I've said before on here: you have to wonder if road designers actually have driving licenses.
I too am heartily sick of all the useless clutter, both alongside our roads, and coating the surface. All paid for out of our taxes.
Whoever is responsible should be taken outside and given a damned good thrashing.
Also, if all the 'ribbon development' hadn't been permitted, we wouldn't be negotiating villages which are now 5 miles long, with limits going up and down and up and down and up and down ...dozens of signs...pedestrian refuges....pink stripes....camera signs, and this is in the middle of blinking nowhere !
Cars may have been slower 20 years ago, but you could go point to point in less time,
and with soooo much less stress.
7db said:
Yeah - the world is such a terrible place now.
Didn't pass through the sarcasm filter...
Sorry, but if what we have seen in the last 10 years is anything to go by, then common sense and intelligence left authoritative circles many moons ago wrt to roads and road safety.
When I was learning to drive, a 30 sign did the job... wasn't exactly hard to spot, and even a new inexperienced driver at the age of 17 managed to negotiate the roads with nothing more than a round sign at each side of the road to give the speed limit for the zone being entered.
Today I have rumble strips that bump my car around, and are a hazard if sudden braking is required. I have more signs telling me the same thing in a countdown fashion, to block more important signage and make me start to ignore other signage (complacency breeds ignorance) Tree's usually over-grow most signage now too, we have so many methods of saying "30mph" that if a few are obscured there is still a tell tale sign
. I have to look out for some jobsworth with a camera attempting to add to road safety by distracting my attention (distracted for good reason to protect my lisence). If the next ten years are anything like the ten we have just gone through with respect to road safety and policy, then yes, the world will be a terrible place. Ruled by cretins who don't have a clue, who appear to be answerable to no body, with a spineless government who pamper to the greenies and nimbys who also have no idea.
Ignoring the ignorant actions of others, that will ultimately effect you, isn't clever.
Dave
10 Pence Short said:
I particularly dislike the large areas of red anti-skid that get put down seemingly every time a council wagon stops.
A multicoloured surface only complicates what is often an overcrowded scene in the first place, and considering it's usually on patches of road supposed to separate the traffic, i.e. hatched central markings, the anti skid properties are superfluous, anyway.
A multicoloured surface only complicates what is often an overcrowded scene in the first place, and considering it's usually on patches of road supposed to separate the traffic, i.e. hatched central markings, the anti skid properties are superfluous, anyway.
This is a pet hate of mine as well (one of many). I'm pretty certain the red tarmac is a way of using up budget at the end of a financial year. Havering Council in Essex have made their roads look like they've developed a nasty rash, there's so many red blotches everywhere. Wide 30mph residential roads that for decades have survived with a single central white dashed line now have wide hatched areas filled-in with red tarmac! Why!?
And there is no consistency as to where it is used, and what it means. The highway code doesn't refer to changes in colour of the road surface. And some authorities use yellow, or grey or green. And it usually discolours or peels off after a short while.
And on a road near my home, a patch of red tarmac used to indicate a change from 30mph limit to 40mph. Now they've changed the limit down to 30mph (Quelle surprise!!), they haven't removed the red tarmac. So if you aren't watching the signs, you could be misled into thinking the 40mph limit still applies.
The last time I drove round Gallows Corner roundabout on the A12/A127, I noticed it had changed colour (yellow if I recall correctly). I remember commenting to the wife how it made the white lane markings harder to see.
I can't believe anyone with an engineering or scientific background (or possessing common sense for that matter) is in charge of our road system.
Somewhere there is a big factory making these signs and selling them to the various local authorities.
They will have a large sales force & larger sales targets and will keep inventing ever more ludicrous pointless signs and buttering up the council buyers to invest more and more in 'road safety'
ALSO Most of these signs are poorly made and need replacing regularly (more sales)
Remember the old cast iron Street name signs?..lasted forever and were vandal proof, these were ripped down and replaced with the thin steel type with stick on vinyl letters that peeled off after a year or two of weather.
Who pays.. the taxpayer of course!
They will have a large sales force & larger sales targets and will keep inventing ever more ludicrous pointless signs and buttering up the council buyers to invest more and more in 'road safety'
ALSO Most of these signs are poorly made and need replacing regularly (more sales)
Remember the old cast iron Street name signs?..lasted forever and were vandal proof, these were ripped down and replaced with the thin steel type with stick on vinyl letters that peeled off after a year or two of weather.
Who pays.. the taxpayer of course!
No signs or controls of any kind on this junction in India, but look how the traffic flows.
Are they so much cleverer than us ?
They certainly appear to waste less money.
www.astrochimp.com/2006/04/19/driving-in-india/
grahamw48 said:
No signs or controls of any kind on this junction in India, but look how the traffic flows.
Are they so much cleverer than us ?
They certainly appear to waste less money.
www.astrochimp.com/2006/04/19/driving-in-india/
That is a good example of how simply giving way works. I bet they have minimal road rage over there too.
We just like to over-complicate things I think. The moment you stop traffic (ala lights) you add angry people who are no longer in control, so right away you probably take away responsibility for actions etc...
We need more roundabouts in this country, and less traffic lights
Dave
grahamw48 said:
No signs or controls of any kind on this junction in India, but look how the traffic flows.
Are they so much cleverer than us ?
They certainly appear to waste less money.
www.astrochimp.com/2006/04/19/driving-in-india/
6% of the world's road accident deaths happen in India (while India has only 1% of the world's road vehicles)
zumbruk said:
grahamw48 said:
No signs or controls of any kind on this junction in India, but look how the traffic flows.
Are they so much cleverer than us ?
They certainly appear to waste less money.
www.astrochimp.com/2006/04/19/driving-in-india/
6% of the world's road accident deaths happen in India (while India has only 1% of the world's road vehicles)
All at road junctions ?
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