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Weird Motorway / Highway / Road Signs

ChrisBoardman

Justified & Ancient
Joined
May 17, 2011
Messages
1,470
If this doesn't belong here, please feel free to move it.

Today I was driving on the M4 eastbound from Swindow to Reading (West).

I saw about four signs in the space of about 1 mile. Each had something like "M4 B 59.4" written over 3 liners.

The signs are very small and I can not work out any meaning for them, and as such signs cost about 3 thousand each to put up, it doesn't make sense.

I can go 20 miles without seeing one and then there are 4 in about a mile.

Does anyone know that they are for?
 
Nope. No idea.
 
If they are for drivers who have broken down to help report where they are then why a big sign that passing drivers can see. Why not references on the hard shoulder you only see when you break down?
 
Because making them only visible from the shoulder doesn't really achieve anything. Besides, if they are so the RAC or AA can find you, it's better you have seen them recently, rather than have to scratch around at the side of the road until you find something you haven't seen before, and aren't sure where it might be.

Here, in Australia, the signs just have a letter indicating the the next town, and the distance in kilometres, spaced at about every 5km. There are also some marking the individual kms on the roadside reflectors (showing the edge of the road in unlit areas). Very handy when trying to work out how much longer it's going to take before you can stop.
 
Okay, so I see their use. But why do you get none for 10 miles and then four in one mile?

It's the irregularity I don't get.
 
Well obviously they only put them up close to the pre-designated MI5/NWO internment camps which, come the day, will house known political dissidents and subversive types. Don't let on that you know though, it's a closely guarded secr





:shock:
 
They got Ronnor! Run everybody!!!
 
I tried, but the sunlight caught one of those pretty iridescent reflective signs - ooh, the colours... :gaga:
 
We had something vaguely similar here...

... in New Zealand up until the early 1980s. In other words, pre-user pays. Basically, there was these small signs on the side of significant highways that had a marker sign every so often for you to test the accuracy of your speedometer and odometer. The good thing was that they started with a simple (yet rather small) sign that said, "odometer test starts", or words to that effect. I'm assuming it is something similar but hey, although it rarely happens, I could be wrong. :eek:
 
What's a 'user pays?'

And yes Black Peter I'm inclined to agree.
 
Re: We had something vaguely similar here...

Caprica said:
... in New Zealand up until the early 1980s. In other words, pre-user pays. Basically, there was these small signs on the side of significant highways that had a marker sign every so often for you to test the accuracy of your speedometer and odometer. The good thing was that they started with a simple (yet rather small) sign that said, "odometer test starts", or words to that effect. I'm assuming it is something similar but hey, although it rarely happens, I could be wrong. :eek:

Yup - some of those odometer tests are still around here. "User Pays" means the government won't do anything for you unless you, the user, stump up for it.

So a friendly sign to help you out is no longer on the cards unless someone pays for it.
 
ChrisBoardman said:
If this doesn't belong here, please feel free to move it.

Today I was driving on the M4 eastbound from Swindow to Reading (West).

I saw about four signs in the space of about 1 mile. Each had something like "M4 B 59.4" written over 3 liners.

The signs are very small and I can not work out any meaning for them, and as such signs cost about 3 thousand each to put up, it doesn't make sense.

I can go 20 miles without seeing one and then there are 4 in about a mile.

Does anyone know that they are for?

I may have figured out what these mean but cannot imagine the reason for them. On Saturday I took my Daughter back to university which involved going a long way north on the M1. I saw these signs every so often, sometimes very close together, or at times long distances apart. 'M1' 'A' then a number. the number increased the further north I went.
On the way home south bound I noticed the signs said 'M1' 'B' and a number which DECREASED each time. At first I mused that it could be the mileage to London - but the number was too high. Then I realised it could easily be the distance to London in KILOMETERS. I did a rough translation to miles from time to time, and it was keeping broadly consistent with the mileage to London seen on 'proper' signs from time to time. Some of these signs show fractions eg 118.6. What needs to be that precise? If it is kilometers why them and not miles? our road distances are not metric and never have been. :?
PS These are NOT the markers to the nearest emergency phone
 
Bump ...

Newly proliferating highway signs in Alberta (Canada) warn motorists about salt-craving moose.

mooselickcarwarning.jpg
Now Canada Has Road Signs Telling People Not to Let Moose Lick Their Cars

Electronic road signs near Jasper, Alberta, are now warning Canadians not to let moose lick their cars, and no, it's not a prank. Moose are getting way too close to cars to get that tasty, tasty road salt and Parks Canada authorities say it's best not to indulge them.

A new warning sign on Jasper National Park's Maligne Lake Road told motorists in French and English "DO NOT LET MOOSE LICK YOUR CAR." Parks Canada installed the sign there as moose are a frequent sight on the road, with motorists typically encountering a dozen moose between Maligne and Medicine Lakes, reports the Fitzhugh News. ...

The reason? Road salt. These moose, which typically weigh around 800 lbs but can weigh as much as 1,800 lbs according to Northern Ontario Travel, love to stand or kneel in the middle of the road to lick salt off of the road surface, putting them in harm's way.

They've become rather desensitized to cars, too, even though a vehicle-moose collision is bad news for both parties.

"(This) started as an occasional issue a few years ago and now is too common,” Jasper National Park spokesman Steve Young wrote in an email to the Fitzhugh News. "People are getting far too close, and it’s perpetuated by their (the moose’s) obsession with salt, accessing the vehicles," he continued.

The moose also don't care how much their antlers ding and scratch your car's paint, either. All they care about is that tasty, tasty road salt. They're absolutely mesmerized by the salt. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.thedrive.com/news/37736...lling-people-not-to-let-moose-lick-their-cars

See Also: https://buckrail.com/moose-sheep-like-to-lick-you-really-shouldnt-let-them/
 
The M6 has a reputation for high weirdness and has been dubbed Cheshire's Bermuda Triangle.
Accidents, some fatal, have occurred when motorists have swerved to avoid phantom vehicles or ghostly Roman soldiers marching across the carriageway.
The route, between junctions 17 and 19, apparently crosses a Roman era burial ground and was also the location of a major battle in the Middle Ages.

https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/new...aunted-m6-cheshires-bermuda-triangle-15060199
 
The M6 has a reputation for high weirdness and has been dubbed Cheshire's Bermuda Triangle.
Accidents, some fatal, have occurred when motorists have swerved to avoid phantom vehicles or ghostly Roman soldiers marching across the carriageway.
The route, between junctions 17 and 19, apparently crosses a Roman era burial ground and was also the location of a major battle in the Middle Ages.

https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/new...aunted-m6-cheshires-bermuda-triangle-15060199
Cheshire's Bermuda Triangle- all down to the orange people in their RR's I suspect. Never mind 17 to 19 the whole of the M6 is pretty horrifying.
 
The M6 has a reputation for high weirdness and has been dubbed Cheshire's Bermuda Triangle.
Accidents, some fatal, have occurred when motorists have swerved to avoid phantom vehicles or ghostly Roman soldiers marching across the carriageway.
The route, between junctions 17 and 19, apparently crosses a Roman era burial ground and was also the location of a major battle in the Middle Ages.

https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/new...aunted-m6-cheshires-bermuda-triangle-15060199
That's local to Techy and me! :chuckle:
 
Fortunately I had been warned but driving up the M6 yesterday, there was an overhead sign which was totally pixellated . It was supposed to warn of the M6 being closed from Junction 31 to 32. Total and utter chaos ensued as back roads round Preston and all other areas became literally grid locked. 1 hour journey took 3 hours.
 
Couldn't get a picture as I was driving. but going through some re surfacing work yesterday I saw a sign saying:
"Cats eyes removed"
Bastards.

Why is it they never roll the chippings in anymore but rely on us poor sods to mash them in with our cars? Two tracks of fairly well secured surface and drifts of asphelted gravel all over the road, being fired at people and sticking to the paintwork however slowly you went.
 
Today I was driving on the M4 eastbound from Swindow to Reading (West).

I saw about four signs in the space of about 1 mile. Each had something like "M4 B 59.4" written over 3 liners.

The signs are very small and I can not work out any meaning for them, and as such signs cost about 3 thousand each to put up, it doesn't make sense.

I can go 20 miles without seeing one and then there are 4 in about a mile.

Does anyone know that they are for?

They’re Driver Location Signs, and l claim my £5 for the least timely response to a query on FTMB.

maximus otter
 
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