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British motorists are finding road signs confusing
It is now 60 years since the standardised road sign system was introduced on the UK’s roads, and it appears that after more than half a century they are still causing headaches. Car finance company Zuto has commissioned research which has revealed that 90 per cent of British motorists find road signs confusing. But there was an alarming third unable to recognise the national speed limit with more than 40% confused by the ‘no vehicles’ sign. It certainly is hard to believe that after so many years confusion at the wheel is still rife. I have to say that I was a fan of the old British signs and was sorry to see them go, but the new ones did seem more simple, even if you could not read. I mean, what else could a picture of a car tipping over a dockside mean? Almost half of drivers questioned believe that there are too many signs on the road, with one in 20 admitting they’ve made driving mistakes due to confusing road signs.
As a result a new taskforce is being setup by the Government to review the current state of road signs and decide on a potential roadside cull. Almost one in 10 said they found the ‘men’ at work road sign sexist and due for a makeover, while over four million UK drivers don’t understand the ‘level crossing without a barrier’ sign, a further 31% failed to recognise the National Speed Limit sign. The research also revealed that one in four don’t recognise the ‘Cars & Motorbikes Prohibited’ sign, with 13% incorrectly believing the exact opposite of the sign’s meaning – that cars and motorbikes are allowed. But Britain’s most confusing sign is one only half of all motorists recognise, the admittedly bizarre sign for ‘no vehicles carrying explosives’, while almost a quarter don’t understand the archaic ‘no horse drawn vehicles’ sign.
For me the no cycling sign of a bike within a red circle has always been a worry. If you have not passed the driving test and carried out a careful study of the Highway Code and not realised that a red circle means ‘don’t do it,’ it is possible for the sign to be confused with the similar, but triangular advisory of cycle route ahead. Time for some clarification I think.
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