To wonder WTF this flashing traffic sign is all about?

[SinkGirl]

We live on a side road off a main road, and last week noticed a new flashing sign on a lamppost halfway down the main road. It flashes THANK YOU as you go past. At the top it says something like “watch your speed”. I’ve seen speed detector signs before but not one that flashes text at you and I said to DH I thought it was dangerous.

This morning we were taking the kids to nursery and there’s now a new sign underneath it. It’s a name and shame board - it’s a leaderboard of the week’s top ten speeders, with columns for name, car and MPH.

WTAF is this? Surely this can’t be an official thing? Who is compiling this information, and how are they getting names? It’s so bizarre.

The whole thing just seems more likely to cause an accident than prevent one.

It’s directly outside some houses so did one of the owners put it there?
Anyone seen anything like this?

There are loads of signs that say thank you if you drive at the speed limit - is that what you mean? They aren't new or at all unusual, I see them all over but a leader board of bad drivers? Photo or it didn't happen

yabu
only publicly available information is displayed.
imo a good thing.
if inconsiderate drivers don't want to be shamed then they should stay within the legal speed limit

it’s a leaderboard of the week’s top ten speeders, with columns for name, car and MPH

Is it filled in? Or do you think it’s more of a threat so people will behave themselves before names start going up? Because i can’t see how that doesn’t break data protection...

I’ve only seen the ones that flash your speed and then a smiley or sad face.

I’d be tempted to track down your local pcso and ask.

Will try to get a pic as we drive past on the way to pick them up this afternoon. I swear to god it’s true! It’s the most bonkers thing I’ve seen in a while, and I have so many questions - is there a camera tracking this? How are they getting the names? This has to be a resident doesn’t it?

I’ve never seen one that flashes text at you, only ones that flash the speed - seems like it’s unnecessarily distracting? I don’t drive though, so maybe drivers are better at tuning things like that out?

only publicly available information is displayed. imo a good thing

I don’t think you can get names from a car reg on open source?

Yes it’s filled in, in green (I think) marker - don’t they say something about using green ink being a marker of insanity? 😂

I don’t care about speeding drivers being shamed - I hate speeders. The problem is more how they are getting that information, who is getting it, and whether it’s actually more of a distraction on a busy road.

There were some logos at the bottom but didn’t make them out before we passed - will investigate further later.

Are they collecting the information from DVLA?

I think I'd phone the local council and ask if they know who put it up.

Yeah, I think I will drop the council a line.

They must be getting it from somewhere. Unless they are just making it up, which would be even weirder.

Either way it’s downright bizarre.

I'm really curious about this.
Can you see if there is a manufacturers name on the board somewhere?

But surely it can't name a driver.
The registered owner of the car is not necessarily the driver of the car.
The could be calling someone out for speeding that hasn't even been near that vehicle or location.

if inconsiderate drivers don't want to be shamed then they should stay within the legal speed limit. You haven't thought this through stripeypillowcase. Where are they getting the names from? They are probably displaying inaccurate information at least some of the time.

I’ll try to snap a photo later - there was at least one logo at the bottom to the left, possibly more on the right, I was just so distracted by the content that I couldn’t get a good look. Hopefully it will be busy at pick up time and I can snap a photo (and cover the names obviously!).

It’s so strange.

The leaderboard sign wasn’t there on Friday so maximum it has been up is three days. The flashing sign has been there a week or two, can’t remember exactly.

I’m just so curious about who’s behind it and how they’re doing it. I think speeding deterrents are generally a good thing but this seems extreme!

I'd suggest the leaderboard has been put there by a local person with nothing better to do. The council don't collect the bins half the time so can't imagine they'd employ someone to fill out names of people driving past.

Definitely. I’ve been battling the local authority for appropriate special educational provision for my twins since May last year - they’re absolutely broke, millions in deficit, there’s surely no chance they are doing this. I’m guessing it’s someone who lives in one of the houses next to the lamppost or close by but it’s a lot of effort to go to no matter how it’s being done. I don’t know if the sign just repeatedly flashes thank you even if you speed or if it’s actually detecting the speed of those who pass.

Just thinking about what you’d need to do in order to compile this makes my head spin.

Report it to the council and get it removed.

There are signs by me that say your speed and if you're speeding flash red and say 'slow down' and if you're not flash green and say 'thank you'.

There’s a local residents group nearby that do this. They have their own speed camera, stand on the road in high vis and do a leaderboard. No names though, I wouldn’t be happy with that. I think they are supported or encouraged by police or council.

It’s probably a vehicle. activated speed sign. It will be set to flash a green thank you that you if under the limit and Amber or red slow down if over. It’s obviously one that collates data as well, although I have not heard of a leaderboard. The ones I know only collect speed, no reg number. I very much doubt they l be able to access name data via the DVLA unless it’s the police who have put it up

Round our way most villages have them. Residents, including me love them as it reminds people who are oblivious to the speed limit at the start of the villages what they should be doing. We have moveable ones and residents often ask for it to be moved to their street.

I have no problem with them, you are over reacting

Could be a local speed watch group , they get trained how to use and loaned a speed gun to monitor speeds. They make a note of any vehicle travelling above the speed limit, so reg number and make and colour of the car, any going more than 5 miles above the speed limit get a letter from the police I think ?
Not sure how they would then get the names to put on their board, reg numbers I could understand.
As for the flashing signs, I have seen loads of them locally, especially around schools and at hotspots for speeding.

I doubt the sign is registering number plates or recording individual speeds. They aren't that precise. We have one near us. How its positioned means it comes up with the slow down message if your on the hill before (60mph) and confuses the 30mph people infront of it with the others daily. Depending on gaps in traffic.

Think its more likely the local person that made the sign has a few people who he/she knows and can identify them by car and is targeting those people.

Chloe it’s the leaderboard I have a problem with. It’s alarming that seemingly some random member of the public is able to access this information, which isn’t publicly available, unless they’re just writing any old made up details on there. It’s very odd.

The flashing sign itself is less of an issue. The text it flashes is yellow / orange rather than green and I’ve only ever seen it say “thank you” (as haven’t seen anyone speeding) but it may well flash something else if you don’t.

It sounds bizarre.

EVEN IF they had somehow got a way to get keeper names from DVLA, how on earth would they manage to record, file and sort it all on a weekly basis, including the personal details? Just doesn't seem like something DVLA would cope with on such an efficient basis!

Could it just be completely made up for the purposes of pretending it's real, as a scare tactic?

It's the leaderboard I would have an issue with too. Looks like some SIDs can collect APR. That information is supposed to be then held securely. Who ever is displaying this doesn't sound like they are complying with this.

Sorry, this was the best shot I could get while we were passing - so weird!

It could be a parish or town council if you have one? They can put up SIDs but may not be aware of the issues around GDPR and ANPR. You could try contacting them to see if they know anything about it.