The purpose of road safety signs is to prevent accidents by providing clear instrustions for drivers and pedestrians to follow, but sadly, the clarity and prominance of the sign does not always lead to the intended outcome. As you will see from our own safety signs, the desired message is always displayed in simple, easy-to-read format, usually using bold prominent colours to attract the attention of the viewer. Sadly, all this effort is irrelevant when people choose to ignore the signs of their own accord, or attempt to challenge the validity of the sign when they are not a safety professional themselves.
While many would say that this is an aspect of safety that is simply beyond our control, a new system in Oxfordshire could soon prove that it is possible to influence the behaviour of careless drivers with the use of safety signs alone. These signs, however, have one distinct difference from your average warning or road safety sign - they have an inbuilt CCTV system! Just as shop owners display signs that warn of CCTV in operation in an attempt to deter shoplifters, these signs were created in the hope that the presence of video evidence would deter drivers from actively ignoring the signs or attempting reckless behaviour.
Oxfordshire County Council launched this scheme with construction company Skanska, after a series of road rage incidents and injuries during the 18 months prior to its introduction. It was found that workers were being verbally abused while carrying out work, as well as being put in immediate danger of being fatally injured by cars who ignored the signs. Thanks to the new wide-angle automatic recording systems installed in the signs, they will be able to monitor and capture any dangerous or abusive actions, which will not be tolerated.
While the system is currently opereating in specific areas only, it would be interesting to see what impact such a scheme could have, if put into practice across the UK. Could this be the future of road safety signs, or even safety signs in general? Is it possible that the only way to impact an individual's response, is to make them aware that you are monitoring it?
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