Comment by louthy | Hacker News Reader

Comment by louthy | Hacker News Reader

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> UK

As a UK resident this drives me mad. Signs like “Tractors Turning” [1]. Like I’m going to see the sign and not notice the f**king tractor? And also, there’s never a tractor there!

Another classic is “Road liable to flooding” [2]. Reeeeally? Ok, am I drowning? No. Phew… looks like it’s not flooding right now, I’ll make a mental note if I ever come this way again and it’s raining, or I’m struggling to breathe and I can’t work out why.

Signs for occasional happenings that anyone with eyes can see.

Then there’s the speed-camera signs, but no speed cameras.

Or, the classic “mobile speed camera” sign [3]. Fixed. In place. Forever.

Or, the “New Road Layout” sign [4], where the layout will never grow old!

Our street furniture has gone so extreme, there’s no way one could read all of it and concentrate properly on driving and the vast majority of it is utterly useless.

/rant

[1] https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/04/64/50/4645087_4636b9...

[2] https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/resources/images/190...

[3] https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/media/img/9/55/754788605175559...

[4] https://i0.wp.com/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0...

A favourite of mine is the London Underground having warnings about using the escalators, stating that last year there were 100 incidents from people not being sufficiently careful.

Given the number of people using the service, this is incredibly small and I hardly think a sign is going to help the few people at risk!

Not to mention the enjoyably ambiguous "Dogs must be carried" !

The thing that really peeves me about those signs is that pretty much all the accidents involve women with fashionably loose clothing. While I'm sure a few guys got scalped by their dreadlocks it's worth directing the warning at people most likely to need it and therefore most likely to benefit from it same as you would if it were screening for a particular disease.

Curious to hear your thoughts on the "Bridge Freezes Before Road Surface" signs.

To me, that seems like a sign where the "let nature sort it out" way of learning is too dangerous to just YOLO it sign-less (despite generally agreeing that we have too many warning signs).

If there’s an invisible danger, that could realistically cause a serious accident, then a sign makes sense.

Only ever seen that sign in the US (driving through the Sierras). Never seen a similar UK version. I guess we must have superior bridges ;)

;) I doubt it's a difference in chemistry or physics. Ambient temps play a large role, so the Gulf Stream's and elevation's influence does as well (dry adiabatic lapse rate is 5.5°F per 1000 ft or 9.8°C per km).

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