The Signs

Road signs tells us the whole story but most of us don’t use it allow faster, safer riding.

Q: What am I missing

A: What many riders miss is that the road is a story and the road signs are the words that tell the story. What’s gone wrong before so that everything has been placed there as a result of someone else’s bad mistake. The bend sign you see before B-road corner wasn’t put there just because there’s a bend, it’s there because someone didn’t get around that bend.

Q: So signs are a warning of unusual severity

A: Sometimes, they can be. No roads authority wants to put up two signs when one will do. The additional signs get up because of repeated serious incidents and because the crash investigators and highway engineers required it. Most crashes on corners are down to an inability to assess the bend, so when that happens a lot the signs try and help riders and drivers get it right but putting up warnings.

Q: is it the same deal with chevron signs

A: Exactly. The more of them there are, the more money we’ve spent because the more people have crashed. You need to see it, interpret it and use it. Otherwise next time they may be more chevrons because of your crash. Nobody goes round chucking loads of signs up unless they need to because they’re expensive.

Q: So all the signs are as a result of other people’s mistakes 

Generally yes. If you’re on B road that goes between two no name places with a total combined population of 7 and you come to a corner with a dozen road signs and warnings costing thousands of pounds it wasn’t done for the sake of it. There was good reason and interpreting that message could prevent you from being another foot note in the story of that road. Marking on the road are there for the same reason.