A remarkable aspect of the country’s road system is the almost complete absence of signage to encourage safer and more sociable driving or even to give directions to a particular town or place.
There are three broad categories of road signage. The first being directive or prohibitive; this can be as simple as a stop or speed limit sign. Another is more cautionary as in warning of a school or zebra crossing and then others that are broader in nature but no less important such as “Are You Wearing Your Seatbelt? or “Don’t Drink and Drive”. All play a part in creating safer roads and saving lives and numerous studies have shown their effectiveness as long as they are well situated and simple in design and language.
Here are some suggestions for the police to consider. Currently there are yellow image-only signs directly at most school or pedestrian crossings. There are seldom any situated 100 or more yards before the actual crossing. Additionally many of the crossings have their paint severely worn out so a driver can at times be confused if there is a crossing or not. It would be useful to have signage way before, that not only states a crossing is ahead but in written language which cautions drivers of its presence. Furthermore in the case of school crossings, many countries enforce a 20 mph speed limit well before and after with flashing lights. This would not be practicable everywhere because many such crossings are on major and congested roads. This is just one example of how history determines our present. That said school crossings should be sacrosanct and incidentally if ever there were a part time job that is more useful it would be to have a school crossing guard in the mornings, at lunch and in the afternoons.
The whole issue of traffic crossings in general is currently muddled and is a main reason why many drivers simply choose not to stop at them when a pedestrian is clearly wanting to cross. It seems that while there are crossings on roadways that would by law require drivers to stop, there are many located at junctions with traffic lights that suggest drivers have the right of way if their light is green. Signs should also be placed for pedestrians on their correct use including that such crossings are not for motorbikes or cyclists as was so tragically seen on Mandela Avenue a month or so ago.
The advent of the roundabout at the Kitty Seawall has been a great benefit to traffic flows as well as the ones on Sheriff St and Mandela Avenue/South Ruimveldt. The results to date indicate that most drivers “get them” as a traffic concept and most navigate them with little incident. We may be wrong but to date we have not heard of any serious accident at any of the roundabouts and that is a testament to their fundamental safety including that they force motorists to drive more slowly. However much more could be done to stop some of the confusion by educating motorists on Roundabout Principles including the most basic rule of “yielding to enter” – drivers already in the roundabout have right of way – and the need to change to an outside lane early before making your exit. This could be done through signs situated before entering the roundabout and we would strongly urge a sustained television and social media campaign explaining the use of what is an extremely efficient and safe method of moving traffic through junctions.
Most accidents occur at conventional junctions and the police could do more to lower such incidents. The introduction of speed bumps was a highly effective move especially in avoiding more serious collisions. (The rubber speed mats are less a strain on the vehicle’s occupants.) But again proper signage about who might have right of way is needed. This is particularly confusing in the Alberttown, Queenstown wards where it can be a matter of guesswork including which streets are one way. It doesn’t help that one is never quite sure of the order of the street names. One suggestion would be to install four way stop signs at junctions, where everyone must stop and give way to the car that arrived at the junction before them. Like their road planning counterpart, the roundabout, they create, simply by signage, a high level of courtesy between drivers. Another factor that probably causes more accidents than acknowledged is drivers parking too closely to the junction and blocking the view of traffic. Once again signage, education and enforcement would go a long way.
One very dangerous location is at Rahaman’s Park on the East Bank where the highway splits to go downtown or to Mandela Avenue. There have been several serious accidents here as drivers try to go left or right while being in the wrong lanes. It is a miracle there are not more collisions. Once again signage closer to the Houston high bridge urging drivers to get into their turning lanes early would be a great help.
Another suggestion would be the installation of vehicle activated signs on less busy roads that flash an oncoming car’s speed, reminding them they may be over the limit. The advantage of all these signs is that they are about cautioning motorists without the presence of police. However it is important they are uniform in nature and are well maintained both to serve their purpose and to indicate their importance. A leaning, rusty traffic sign has little authority.
There is of course a more fundamental cause for the high number of accidents we currently experience: that is a disregard for our fellow road users and what is an insane rush to get where we are going. It betrays an anxious and uncaring society. That is a much harder issue to address but perhaps we can begin on the roadways….
