Street Signs

There's absolutely no doubt that inattention causes far more crashes than low-end speeding, yet our governments continue to concentrate on the latter and ignore just about everything else. The trouble is that no-one has yet invented an inattention camera...

Drivers who are trying to navigate their way through unfamiliar areas must be one of the primary causes of crashes. It only takes a second or so of inattention while we look for some clue as to just where we are for an unexpected situation to arise – then all hell can break loose and a possible tragedy may unfold.

Far too few streets have name signs on them. And when there are signs they can be just about anywhere; on the side of a building, on top of a pole, stuck on distracting advertising hoardings. It’s all far too haphazard and difficult to find.

Why can’t there be street name signs in the same location at every intersection? Then drivers would know exactly where to look. We would take our eyes off the road for the shortest possible time and greatly reduce the risk of hitting something.

I would suggest that they can be atop all traffic light posts, and at a similar height on posts at an identical position on every intersection? That way it would almost become instinctive to glance at that area whenever you are driving in an unfamiliar locality.

OK, it can be argued that a driver should ideally not be looking for signs whilst on the move. They should instead stop, and get out of the car if need be, to find which street they are in. The chances of that happening are virtually zero so let's get into the real world and say that it simply won't happen.

Having signs in the same spot on every single corner, no matter how small the crossroad wouldn’t be too hard to engineer. Not only would it prevent distraction, it would also save people from getting lost, and lost drivers can be one of the most hazardous things on our roads.

Local and state government authorities have been approached about this vital matter many times in the past. Their standard excuse is that it’s too expensive to put the signs on every intersection, therefore they only put them at the start and finish of most streets. Some of the longer streets do get a few intermediate signs, but that's done in a pretty haphazard manner so you certainly can't depend on them being there.

The same authorities who say that street signs are too expensive always seem to be able to find the money for an abundance of traffic-hindering devices. So our trips are becoming increasingly and irritatingly confused by speed humps, chicanes and endless roundabouts. Items like these are far more expensive to install than street signs. And which also create serious air pollution as cars are forced to slow down and speed up unnecessarily.

May I respectfully suggest that more crashes are caused by lost drivers looking for non-existent name signs, than are prevented by deliberately putting big bumps in the middle of just about every suburban back road in Australia?

ewan@marque.com.au

Street Signs

Deadly Signs