Time to sign off?

[Martin Cassini]

According to "research" last week by Direct Line and Brake, an "alarming" number of drivers don't know the meaning of road signs, which are "critical to ensuring road safety". The implication is that the only guide to safe action is obedience to instructions. No, the primary guide is context. Instructional signs take our eyes off the road. They contradict our senses and judgement. They demand our attention and reduce our ability to make intelligent decisions. They are bad news. We have a system which is so badly designed that an industrial-scale control industry is "needed" to police the mess. If we had a system designed to stimulate rather than enforce appropriate conduct, our roads would be more efficient and incomparably safer.