Comment: ABD criticises short-sighted proposal from RAC Foundation
The Association of British Drivers has rubbished a suggestion by the RAC Foundation that larger letters should be used on road signs to help elderly people who cannot see clearly.
ABD Spokesman Nigel Humphries said: "Drivers are required to possess a certain standard of eyesight in order to pass the driving test. If their eyesight is so bad that they cannot read road signs then they would not be able to pass the test, and should accept their limitations and stop driving. Both for their own safety, their passengers safety, and the safety of other road users."
Humphries continued:
"The RAC Foundation states correctly that many accidents involving elderly drivers occur at junctions, but they totally fail to understand that the problem is a failure to see other VEHICLES, not signs. Meddling with font size does nothing to resolve the basic problem. Are the RAC Foundation going to suggest that pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and cars be made bigger so elderly drivers can see them better? This suggestion is so detached from reality that I wonder what planet the RAC Foundation are living on.
We do agree, though, with the comments made by Rob Gifford of PACTS in the article – there are often far too many roadsigns, and this can be confusing. This arises from the tendency of councils to put up signs to show they have "done something" about safety concerns.
Such spurious signs only serve to reduce the effectiveness of the signs that are necessary," continued Humphries. "A lot of them need to be got rid of, especially some of the round ones with a number in the middle – blanket speed limits are the worst offenders for undermining the integrity of – and respect for – roadsigns."
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1 Comment
Nigel Humphries is spot on with his remarks.
In any case, has the RAC Foundation not noticed that the drivers signs are now all diagrammatical except bus lane signs?
There is also the usual mistake of over stating the issue. There is less death on the road from any cause than from accident at home. This is just the Road Safety Industry keeping the flame under the empty pot.
Keith Peat
April 15, 2010, 8:20 am.
