Passing place signs

[teuchter]

Anyone not familiar with the scottish highlands won't have a clue what i'm on about here. Anyway. Passing place signs. An integral part of the highland landscape, you might say. And they have always been square but mounted with the edges 45' to the horizontal. But recently they seem to be mounted square on. This is WRONG I tells you! Who is responsible for this madness? How can it be stopped?

 

[pogofish]

They certainly ain't familar with them, or the ettiquite of single-track driving south of the border - I've had a few hair-raising incidents the few times I've been on single tracks down there.

As for the shape change, I'd not given much thought to it but yes, I think I prefer the older shape.

Try badgering the councils concerned?

 

[teuchter]

I'm wondering if it's because of some EU regulation about consistent signage conventions nr something boring like that.

 

[Sue]

Get them in the Borders too.

 

[pogofish]

Yup. All parts of Scotland & even bits of England & Wales have them but You are unlikley to see them on main roads unless you venture into the highlands these days. Even then, the singletrack stretches are slowly getting less by the year.

 

[catinthehat]

Perhaps there is a plan to write on the signs - maybe something like Do not get your binoculars or picnic stuff out this is a passing place - would suffice.

 

[pogofish]

Perhaps there is a plan to write on the signs - maybe something like Do not get your binoculars or picnic stuff out this is a passing place - would suffice.

Tempting - Tempting!

 

[lang rabbie]

The new shape appears to be mandated by the Chapter 4 of the Traffic Signs Manual, which is a joint publication of the London Department of Transport and the Scottish Executive. They were all supposed to have been removed by 1 January 2005

Quick Google brings up a Wikipedia page which claims the bureaucrats changed the design because diamond shaped signs are reserved for instructions to tram drivers. The Highlands are of course noted for the number of recently constructed tramlines where this could have caused confusion
What a waste of effort and public money.

 

[teuchter]

That is ridiculous. It would surely be less hassle to change all the tram signs in the uk due to the diamond shape being reserved for single-track roads....