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Blame it on road signs, do confusing signs cause accidents?
New research out yesterday revealed that a majority of British motorists do not understand the road signs they come across on a daily basis. Further to this, over three-quarters – 76 per cent – of Brits think that distraction caused by road signs can be dangerous and nearly half – 46 per cent – have been distracted by road signs while driving.
Of those who have had a crash or near miss after failing to understand a road sign, more than four in five – 81 per cent – had to fork out up to £600 on accident repairs. The Department of Transport has admitted that Britain has 9,000 redundant or misleading road signs which need to be revised.
Nearly a quarter – 23 per cent – of Brits feel that road signs aren’t useful, and more than half – 52 per cent – would feel confident enough driving without signs. Research among 2,000 drivers by comparison website Confused.com, found 93 per cent were confused by the red circle on white background sign meaning no vehicles except bikes. More than eight in 10 – 83 per cent- did not understand yellow and black urban clearway signs, which mean no stopping between set times. Nearly seven in 10 – 67 per cent – did not understand the red and blue circle which means no waiting.
Six in 10 – 61 per cent – failed to know the meaning of a red circle with a motorcyle and car inside, which means no motor vehicles allowed. And one in two drivers – 51 per cent – could not understand a sign which points out appropriate lanes at a junction ahead.
The Department for Transport is currently revising its ‘Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions’, for implementation in 2014. Gareth Kloet, head of car insurance at Confused.com, said: ‘Our research suggests that many accidents are actually caused by redundant or perplexing road signs. ‘It is clear that the government needs to do a better job in educating people on what road signs mean in order to improve road safety. Any accidents caused because of distracting road signs will affect car insurance premiums, which will in turn cost the consumer more money.’
In order to voice the public’s opinion on road signs, Confused.com is running an online petition where people can vote for which road signs should be revised via http://www.confused.com/car-insurance/c … road-signs. Any road sign which receives more than 5,000 votes will be petitioned to the government.
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