Are there too many road signs?

[Squiggs]

the slow drivers cause the accidents!!

 

Correction. The slow drivers provoke the impatient drivers into putting theirs and others lives at risk.

[Alastair]

Yes, there are far too many road signs and general street clutter. It's one of my pet hates.

 

How much money is wasted by councils across the UK in putting up useless road signs and street markings?

[DT Ralge]

what amazes me is the national speed limit sign the big white background sign with the black stripe diagonally across, means nothing to most motorists because they dont know what it means, i think they should do away with it and replace it with a 60mph sign, they did a study a few years ago and 70% of drivers didnt know what the national speed limit was, trouble we have now is there are speed camera signs up in 60mph areas so drivers still go at 40mph just to make sure they dont get a ticket, i live in lincolnshire at present and most of the roads are nat speed limit but drivers are determined to still drive at 30mph everywhere even when its safe to drive at 60, from what ive seen its people that overtake that cause the accidents, but i think there is some negative thought there, maybe if there was a minimum 45 mph limit perhaps most drivers wouldnt want to over take, plus my other comment is, if some drivers dont feel confident driving at 45 50 or 60 mph in those speed limits then are they comptitant enough to be even driving in the first place, any comments

 

but the NSL sign means different speeds for different vehicle types/weights on s/c's and d/c's - but I'm sure you knew that! That's why we have such a sign, one rather than 3 separate signs.

[DT Ralge]

There are probably too many signs on occasions and with the current logic applying in the authorities' minds there will be still more. So that fills me with unease.

 

A good few of the drivers I sit with know intuitively that wherever the council has spent money in road signage or paint there has been crashes. (Has that ever been explained to you?)

So, more paint more danger, more warning triangles, more Shellgrip, more chevrons, more hatched areas, more danger measured by the number of incidents/crashes/injuries and death, on occasions. Oh, and of course, more cameras ...

 

But knowing that intuitively isn't always good enough 'cos the authorities often see the same pattens of events unfolding at the same places and then at different places. The result, yet more money spent on doubling the signage, paint, yellow backings on the signs (£68 per square metre, by the way) - have you been down the Buxton-Ashbourne road and seen it for yourself?

 

Knowing it (just about) is not good enough, acting upon what you see (the expensive clues) is infinitely better but I guess that's not what the ordinary untrained driver does.

 

So when you see SLOW painted on the road (Speed-Low-Observe-Warnings) next to a warning triangle telling you of a bend ahead to the right with a side road on the right hand side IN the bend what has happened there in the past and what actions will you take to avoid getting involved in the same sort of mess? (Answers on a postcard.) If you struggle to see the point of doing anything different from simply going around the corner the authorities have wasted time and money putting up the road signs and we are headed, I fear, for wall-to-wall signage and eventually for a re-think.

[EmilyM]

I don't really pay attention to signs on the roads I have driven down hundreds of times, unless there's something new. If its an unfamiliar road I will pay more attention.

 

Slow drivers annoy me too, but inexperienced drivers have to learn by practice, its just unfortunate for all the other drivers who get stuck behind them!

I've been driving for just over two years and I don't drive slowly.

[rockyraccoon]

Not in sheffield but on the A614 coming back from scarborough, theres exactly 100 "speed camara" signs (50 either side of the road) .. and thats just that one part of the road that you take from scarborough to get to sheffield.. can anyone say that's justified? especially since there is nothing like 50 speed camaras! Its just so the police can park up and clock you no matter where they can be bothered to park up

[HeadingNorth]

Its just so the police can park up and clock you no matter where they can be bothered to park up

 

 

They can do that anywhere whether there are signs or not. Breaking the speed limit is an offence everywhere at every time.

[rockyraccoon]

They can do that anywhere whether there are signs or not. Breaking the speed limit is an offence everywhere at every time.

 

still .. its a whole heck of a lot of signs

[milquetoast1]

A good driver doesn't need to. You don't need a "give way" sign to know to stop at a junction.

 

No, but then a "give way" sign doesn't mean stop. A good driver would know that.

 

[rich5315]

anyway doesnt matter how many road signs are up most peopl dont read them anyway what about parking signs, i live in a tourist area the roads on the seafront are marked with a single yellow line and a sign p that says no parking between 10am and 6pm betweem 1st may and 30th sept that means you can park there after sept and before may but motorists that park wont park there wether its because of the yellow line or the no parking sign on the sign but people still wont park there, now 1st of may hs gone by they still wont park there after 6pm i take it they dont read the sign or they dont know what it means!