Safe Speed Forums

...and the matrix signs.
We’re so health and safety conscious these days; I wonder how long it will be before we get equally ludicrous messages on motorway matrix signs. We’re already up to “SURFACE WATER, SLOW DOWN”, duh, it’s raining, and “SPRAY, SLOW DOWN”, again, duh, it’s raining. What about the old classic “FOG, SLOW DOWN”, like we can’t see it.

I can see it coming. “IT’S RAINING, SLOW DOWN” and “POSSIBLE RAIN, CAUTION”. Even "DAMP CONDITIONS, BE AWARE". What about “STRONG SUNLIGHT, USE YOUR VISOR” or even better “GETTING DARK, USE YOUR LIGHTS”.
We could even have one that says “OVERTAKING TRAFFIC, USE YOUR MIRRORS”.

I mean, where’s it all gonna end.

Of course, there are some sensible ones like “DON’T HOG THE MIDDLE LANE”, but these clearly don’t go far enough. I suggest something like “GET OUT OF THE MIDDLE LANE YOU PILLOCK, YOU’RE CAUSING CONGESTION”, or in the case of a BMW, “GET OUT OF THE OUTSIDE LANE, YOU DON’T OWN IT”.

Then there’s the drivers who insist upon driving with their rear fog lights on no matter what the weather. What could they tell them?

Suggestions..?

_________________
Without self expression, we're all slaves.

Don't know about the fog lights but what about this one for tailgaters

"Any closer and you will be inside with them"

When people take responsibility?

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q= ... CcountryGB

I see nothing wrong with the above signs.

However, I would prefix it with



OY .. YOU! YEP YOUNUMPTY WOODEN TOPPED MUPPET[/b]



Still dunno if they's get the message. I'd also put COAST up as well

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

It does seem unbelievable that it is considered necessary for a driver to be told there is spray on a motorway when it is wet. I would consider it pretty obvious, but it does seem these days that unless people are told everything they are unable to work anything out for themselves.

Whilst discussing matrix signs, it amazes me how often they display a reduced speed that bears little or no resemblance to the conditions. There are several places on the M27 where you can see a matrix sign displaying a reduced speed with the next one on showing end and there is nothing happening in between. Do I need to be told to slow to 40mph when I can see clearly a mile further up the road that is clear? Again this does not encourage motorists to take what is displayed seriously.

I suspect that having spent so much money on these matrix signs there is a great reluctance not to show something on them. Perhaps they should sell advertising.

_________________
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

I think they should put the lottery numbersup on them, that would slow people down trying to check their tickets.

The speed limits vary to slow traffic down as it approaches congestion.
You may well be able to see one mile, the data systems that HA are monitoring see the entire network.
Just because your single mile is free-flowing does not mean that 20 miles down the road it is the same.
Have a read through this site:http://www.nrtsco.com/website/home.do
Pop a few downloads and look at the system existing now...

Unfortunately, many drivers think as you do. specially those on the A1M approaching London, which is why they always get bogged-down in jams....traffic flowing at 40 is better than traffic floating about between 0 and 20.

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

Quite, If congestion sensitive VSL is working properly then you will rarely, if ever, see any congestion.

(The relationship between highway capacity (Vehicles/hour past a single point) and average speed is an interesting one, and not what many people would think! Question 1). At what average speed does a highway avchieve its maximum capacity? Quston 2) Why does traffic "surge" as maximum capacity is approached )

Access controll has a part to play too but I am not sure if it is used anywhere in the UK.

_________________
"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

But surely not when I can see the end sign beyond the 40.

If traffic is being slowed to avoid congestion, then it would seem better if the reduced speed started further back and for a longer distance to say 60, and is more likely to be observed, than 40 over one mile with the end sign visible.

Possibly there was a queue at a slip road......
Either way, it makes little difference......I do not recall an variation to the law that says because you cannot see a reason for the limit being 40, you are going to drive at 70 ?
I too see little reason for the speed going down to 50 at Stevenage....until I get a few more miles down the road....

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

Surely, if you are slowing traffic down to 40MPH for a problem 20 miles away, this is a little bit of "over reaction"? A lot of drivers will have turned off before they have gone a further 20 miles. How do they expect us to take these signs seriously if they relate to something happening so far away that we may never actually see the problem?

_________________
My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

Yes I think graball hits the nail on the head. People ignore them because generally they seem too early, so the desired effect is lost.

Nobody pays any attention to them anyway. Until the tickets start dropping through the letter boxes. Then they start whining about them.
Seriously = 3 points and a penalty.
The point is NOT that people pay them no attention because they see no reason for them, the point is that even if there WAS a reason they would still pay them no attention.
Most people are unable to think any further ahead than their nose, and some not that far.
If you were to tell them that the traffic was being slowed-down because of congestion 5/10/15/20 miles ahead they would STILL go charging-on at 70....the same tossers that realise they have made a mistake going onto the m/way and then reverse back up the slip road......another bye-bye-licence-driver.

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

Maybe it's the "cry wolf" syndrome? People are so used to seeing warnings saying fog ahead, delays ahead etc when the delay has been cleared hours before or the fog was yesterday that they assume there is nothing wrong until the day it actually happens. I can't remember the last time that I saw a sign saying delays ahead when there ACTUALLY WERE delays ahead, even many miles away. Perhaps if the highways people were a bit more on the ball then people would react better to the signs.

_________________
My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

I drove home from Crawley in the early hours of Friday morning and all of the signs were warning of fog. They were quite right, about a mile before M25 J4 it was foggy, intermittently for the next mile or so. I am pretty sure I would have noticed without the warning though.

I find the warnings of congestion between junctions 17 and 19 of the M5 quite reassuring however, particularly when heading west on the M20. After all, if the closest congestion is that far away I should not have any problem on the next 25 miles

When they do describe more local congestion it is usually of the form

Queueing traffic at the A234 junction

Queueing traffic beyond the Stanford exit

If the actual junction number was mentioned it might be useful, then I might just have an idea if I was going to reach it before turning off.

Have you seen the zombie warning road sign?

_________________
Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

Well thats irresponsible to change those signs! But if any one has a sign operators manual they can lend me I would be most interested

Oh dear...
It is you that is missing the point. As an HGV driver I regularly use the M42, a motorway with the most blatant misuse of matrix signs I've yet seen. A short while ago while on the four lane section, and at 3.30 in the morning, the inside lane had been coned off. The overhead gantry signs on this section ot the M42 are obligatory. The speed had been set at 60mph. By the second sign it had dropped to 40mph. Fine. I can live with that, but by the third sign, and these signs are only half a mile apart, the speed in lane two had dropped to 20mph. Lanes three and four remained at 40mph. By the fourth sign all lanes displayed nsl. There was no evidence of any roadworks of any kind. Anywhere. At all. At 3.30 in the morning. WHY?
The M1 through Nottingham's 15 miles of roadworks carries a 50mph speed limit 24 hours a day and there's nothing wrong with that!
This is clear misuse and aimed only at revenue building to pay for said signs. Period.

_________________
Without self expression, we're all slaves.

Since some are mandatory, you have no choice.
Personally, if I were a trucker and could have my LGV ticket revoked without any points on my licence I'd be a bit careful !
As I said some time ago....you cannot see the whole picture....so you do not know what the problem is (if any).
And, like many, you probably would not care anyway.
Maybe the matrix signs will display another message soon:

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing