Following on from Monday's story about how there are too many road signs, New Car Net has come up with a survey that shows that we don't recognise them either. The two issues are not coincidental, one would suspect.
The new survey found that one in three motorists fails to recognise even the most basic road signs.
Overall, male drivers fared marginally better than their female counterparts, with a 68.1 percent success rate compared to 62.4 percent in the poll.
The biggest disparity in the battle of the sexes related to the ‘uneven road’ warning, illustrated by two humps inside a red triangle. Just 53.7 percent of women correctly identified it, compared to 71.4 percent of men; a quarter of women thought it referred to a ‘hump backed bridge’. What the other 28.6 per cent thought it referred to isn't recorded.
Age also has an effect on a motorist’s ability to recognise road signs. Those aged between 55 and 64 are the most knowledgeable, whiledrivers in the 25-34 bracket are the worst – 71 percent to 53 percent respectively. The age group typically associated with new drivers, 17-24 year olds, were alarmingly the second worst with 58 percent.
In the poll of over 1,100 motorists, fewer than two percent of respondents scored the maximum 100 percent score. Qualified visitors to New Car Net were asked to correctly identify ten basic road signs in a multiple-choice format similar to the current theory test.
It comes as no surprise to learn that the most universally recognised sign was also a common sight on Britain’s roads – the ‘two way traffic crosses one way road’ sign. The sign used to designate a segregated pedestrian and cycle route scored the worst.
"Time proves to be a good educator," said Massimo Pini of New Car Net, "But it is a concern that so few of us on the road can remember the most basic of signs.
"We seem to think that as long as we can mechanically perform the function of driving, we don’t need to worry about what a road sign is telling us anymore."
Well, there's a surprising result for anyone who hasn't driven on the UK's roads for the last 3 years or so...
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