How do you react to a 'Road Ahead Closed' Sign
Over half of road users polled say they find them unhelpful
Press Release
Basically it seems that riders and drivers often believe that there is a problem with road ahead closed signs. The signs don't really offer enough information about what's actually happening further along the road, they just tell you to divert. Road users often can't tell which road they are talking about, and if they are out of date or still current. There's a road closed sign on a road near here which has been there for weeks and everyone just illegally drives round it and carries on their merry way. The signs don't really tell you what is going on ahead, or how much of the road is closed and for how long.
When polled by the RAC about this, 57% of road users said that they find the signs 'uninformative' while 60% said the signs don't tell them clearly which road is closed and 15% don't trust that the signs are up to date. Due to this widespread confusion 93% of drivers are in favour of councils and contractors giving more information about the nature of the road closures on the signs, like exactly where they are and which road they are referring to.
Only 30% of the road users surveyed actually said that they took any notice of the signs anyway – although it can lead to a fine, many just ride or drive round them not following the diversion signs at all...When polled to see why they didn't follow the diversion signs, seven in 10 said they just found their own way if it was their area, 58% said that they didn't want to follow diversions which might lead them miles out of their way and 52% stated that they just switch to their sat navs. 34% just ignore the sign altogether and drive on, hoping that the closed road is a different one or that there will be another turn off before they reach the closure. Basically there is a lack of credibility and trust in these signs so it would be good if they could be altered to be a bit clearer to make them a bit more believeable.
If the signs stated which roads were closed and for how long they were likely to remain closed they would be a lot more credible, plus a date on them as to when the diversion was set up and when it was due to end would mean that people would know if they actually were current.
Any thoughts about this? How do you react to Road Ahead Closed signs? Take the diversion or try and ignore it!
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