To worry about the safety notices on motorways?

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The ones in orange lights that have messages like "Look out for bikes", "Keep your distance" or "Don't drink and drive"

To me, it seems that there more likely to be a distraction than to actually change anyone's behaviour. I mean, if you're the kind of driver who doesn't routinely keep your distance, is that going to change because a sign tells you to?

Meanwhile, the majority of drivers, who do routinely follow this advice are distracted momentarily while they read the signs.

"Channel Tunnel Closed" was a prominent message a few years ago. It felt quite sad!

Mind you though, the "bombardment with information" on motorways could be a lot worse. Let's imagine for a moment what motorways would be like if advertising were allowed. It would be like the inside of a sports arena: adverts on every bridge; big adverts in fields (I know you see this occasionally, but not very often); big animated adverts while you're waiting at traffic lights at the junctions.

I think that the status quo (the odd electronic sign) is fairly innocuous, even if the road numbers take some thinking about. The signs are some distance apart, so you only see them one at a time, you have time to "process" them.

Compare with signs in towns: you often see ten signs on one post. Working out which lane to get into can be difficult. A driving instructor I know in London has a particular gripe about signs for bus lanes; you have to check what day and time it is, and you can fail a driving test if you don't use a bus lane when it's allowed; the "keep to the left" rule is that important! He says that frequently, his driving school car is the only car daring to use bus lanes when it's allowed.

fiveacres

The last time I saw that there were swans on the M6 Toll.

I agree that the 'delay at junction X' is useless if you don't know whether you are going through that junction.

But you must surely know which junction you are getting off at and whether you're going up the numbers or down.

I drive a route several times a year where I need to get off the M25 onto the M4. I haven't a clue what junction number it is on the M25, I just drive along till I see the signs for the M4.

I do a lot of motorway driving and like the long distance info-allows me to plan a loo break so I'm not bursting half way through the queue if I can't reroute

The M8 is the worst

Have you got your seatbelt on
Don't forget to check your petrol
Don't drink and drive
etc

I don't necessarily know what jn no I'm coming off at, but know what order the turnings off the M25 are for example, or that I'm going off the M6 at the toll road, so if I'm going from Manchester to Birmingham (which I do fairly often)and it says delays Jn 15 or whatever I don't know if that's before or after I turn off.

Sign on the A1
Delays on A64 after B1237

That's useful if you know the A64 and the B1237.If you don't, the A64 is a very long road. Still, if it's summer, you can guarantee there'll be delays on it

I used to know someone whose job it was controlling those signs. He told me on his last day he had a bit of fun with it....

the ones that usually make me laugh are the FOG ones

In the middle of a patch of FOG.

Usually spurs DH to say 'No fucking shit sherlock'