Moving Violations: Signage Stupidity

[AF News Desk]

Moving Violations:
Signage Stupidity
Despite the simplistic way signs are made for driver comprehension, we seem to have no idea what they say.

Jonathan Swigart - AutomotiveForums.com
Oct. 14, 2011

My cousin and I had a brief discussion last weekend about comprehension.

We came to the conclusion that, despite having an ability to read, many people don't comprehend the things that they are reading. An example of this would be someone reading reading the rules to a board game and knowing every word but having no idea how to apply what they've read.

Fortunately for drivers, street signs are made in such a way that they appeal to members of our society who aren't very well versed in comprehending what they are reading. Put simply: Street signs are made with idiots in mind (by the way, if you take offense to that statement, the problem is your self esteem, not my assessment). And they should be. Keeping things simple allows for smaller margins of error and, when it comes to driving, the smaller the better.

However, with each passing year that I am behind the wheel, I can't help but think that we are losing the ability really comprehend what we are seeing on the signs that adorn or streets.

The most recent example of this that comes to mind is the new pedestrian crossing signs throughout Champaign/Urbana (where I live and work). These signs replaced older signs with a similar design that depicted a yield sign instead of stop sign in an attempt to catch the attention of drivers who might ignore the yield sign. The problem here is, instead of paying more attention to the fact that pedestrians are to be stopped for, drivers are stopping for this sign like it is a stop sign.

While that doesn't sound like a terrible thing, when you consider how many people are trying to get to and from work early in the morning, then throw in the fact that by myself, I have to deal with this at least twice a day, you have traffic problems that stem from – you guessed it – the inability to comprehend what a sign actually says.

This especially doesn't bode well for new traffic signs that are coming out each day. Instead of making the effort to understand what they mean, people more and more seem to be ignoring them completely, despite the possible consequences their actions might carry.

Construction zones used to suffer from this problem all the time. People ignoring the signs to slow down or to be mindful of workers. Fortunately for the road workers, the thread of large fines and time in jail has helped drop the death rate of workers in construction zones. Still, how sad is it that the only way to reach drivers and get them to slow down at all is to threaten them?

Stop signs (which have been around since 1915, by the way) seem to be a favorite of people to ignore. I can't count the number of people who run stop signs in front of me or in front of my wife – whether we're driving or if I'm on my bike or even out walking. In fact, running stop signs is one of the top reasons for automobile accidents each year, accounting for thousands of accidents across the country. How's that for comprehension?

Part of me attributes this to overconfidence in ability: You think you can get through that stop sign and merged into traffic before that car a short distance away ends up where you're at. More often than not, you're wrong. Another part of it, I think, is the American need to have everything right now. Most of us are already in a hurry as it is, which means we just don't have the time to stop at a stop sign and survey the traffic situation before pulling out into the middle of it.

Still, at the root of this problem is that word I keep mentioning: Comprehension. If people could comprehend that a stop sign was placed at a particular point for a reason, they would understand that what they are doing is stupid. If it were an intersection meant to be passed through quickly unless occupied, it would have a yield sign, not a stop sign.

I wish I could say there are many classes (in addition to the ones you took to get your driver's license) that help increase the driver comprehension of signs, but that is not the case. In this situation, the onus falls upon each and every one of us to make that extra effort in understanding the signs that surrounding us every day as we drive.

There's no shame in admitting you don't know something. There is shame when you don't make the effort to be in the know. If you don't make the effort to understand what a street sign says or if you ignore it completely, you are putting yourself and – more importantly – the drivers around you in possible danger because of your lack of interest.

That said: Pay attention. Understand the signs you're reading. Stop at stop signs. You never know when someone's life might depend on your comprehension of a street sign.

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Jonathan Swigart is an award-winning journalist and has been around the automotive world his entire life. "Moving Violations" will explore some of the basic aspects of driving that drivers often overlook, among other topics related to driving and the auto industry. He lives in Champaign, Illinois with his wife and son and works at the University of Illinois.

You can reach Jonathan by emailing [email protected]