FEATURE SIGN SOLUTIONS
Open to
interpretation
IN THEORY THEY ARE THERE TO GIVE INSTRUCTIONS OR DIRECTIONS, HOWEVER, MANY SIGNS STILL CONFUSE ROAD USERS. JOHN OSBORNE CONSIDERS WHAT IS BEING DONE TO IMPROVE SIGNS AFFECTING CAR PARKING
I
ncreased congestion and the greater use of in-car navigation are just two of the issues that have prompted the government to review the way information is conveyed to road users. Added to that, there is the challenge of managing demands on motorists’ attention and calls to create ‘intelligent highways’ in which a vast amount of information could be relayed to and from drivers. Although many signs are static, the increasing
popularity of variable messaging is changing the information that can be conveyed to road users. Understandably, the government believes it is time to review the legislation regarding signs. Kelvin Reynolds, the BPA’s technical director, is
at the forefront of discussions as he is a member of the Department for Transport (DfT) working group looking at traffic signs and law enforcement as part of the overall UK traffic signs review, which is now underway. Tere are two main pieces of legislation: the Traffic Signs (Amendment) Regulations and General Directions 2010; and the Traffic Signs (Temporary Obstruction) Regulations 2010. Reynolds said
the review is ‘the first part of the wider traffic signs review and, in effect, only formalises
28 APRIL 2010
what has become customer practice in terms of special authorisations issued by the DfT since the publication of the 2002 regulations’. Tis major review of traffic signs has implications
for parking enforcement, and a study is being commissioned (by DfT in collaboration with BPA) into wide area parking controls and the like. Although the consultants are not yet able to comment on the effect of the review on parking, the BPA has reviewed the proposed Traffic Signs (Amendment) Regulations and General Directions 2010 Consultation document, and has also invited comments from a BPA peer review group, which has an interest in this subject. In December 2009 Abdul Traore, BPA technical
services coordinator, said that the BPA will comment on ‘those parking and other signs which are presently available only by special authorisation’.
It would be wrong to allow free use of signs, which could be misinterpreted, misconstrued or poorly understood by traffic engineers and motorists alike
He added: ‘In general, the BPA supports the principle of adding those signs that are now routinely given special authorisation, and including them in the new Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions. We agree that this will indeed help reduce the administrative burden on local authorities and the DfT.’
Need for caution
Traore said that the BPA believes ‘that some caution should be adopted before making universally available those signs that are known or understood to have caused some controversy with regards to their use and interpretation by motorists and or adjudicators. It would be
www.britishparking.co.uk
iSTOCK ©
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52