More information for you as a driver with your eyes on the road in your field of view is a really good thing, especially if you’re travelling in an unfamiliar area.
So, South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds is justifiably concerned when he finds out that county staff are removing signs that give people advance warning of an upcoming major intersection or road.
It’s justified by staff as an “operational efficiency” and will save taxpayers money.
But this really is penny wise, pound foolish.
If anything could keep people from fiddling with controls in their dashboard or illegally playing with their cell phone looking at Google Maps, that’s better for all road users and better from a safety aspect. We have become too reliant on technology and seem to have lost the fundamentals of even the most basic task – driving.
What’s more jaw-dropping is the revelation from North Stormont Deputy Mayor Frank Landry that people have lost “the concept of looking at a sign” and that we are in a “new era” where people don’t look at signs.
County council has told staff to stop removing signs and will wait to draft a policy.
Hopefully it will be a policy of common sense that recommends spending that money in the grand scheme of county budgets to make sure roads are well signed in our region.
I’m Bill Kingston.