Would you rather have no emergency phone?

Posted by: Daddy-O at June 30, 2004 06:37 PM

It may seem funny, but it is saying - "It's a long way to the next phone. Think about that before you start walking for it." Which could be quite useful info.

Posted by: Yeskin Gallen at July 1, 2004 04:09 AM

It could also be saying that for the next 178km, there will be emergency phones, should you be in trouble, so fear not to drive in these parts.

However, it is ridiculously ambiguous.

Posted by: Josh Bode at July 1, 2004 09:24 AM

I think it's more of the first comment - there is an emergency phone, but it isn't for a long damn way. It's an information sign (showing you where the phone is) and a warning sign, all wrapped up into one. I guess they could have said it specifically though.

Posted by: Ari at July 2, 2004 02:51 PM

It's possible the sign is targetted at any self-aware motor vehicles that might be thinking of breaking down along the way. :)

Posted by: Dana Boylaski at July 6, 2004 06:51 PM

This is fake! South African infomation signs are yellow and diamond shaped (I think the phone is the other way, not sure). Only directional signs are blue on rectangle, places of interest are brown, on a directional shape, etc. etc. Most people living in the UK and SADC will have picked this up.

I will find a picture (these tend to be only on the highways) and post it.

But this is fake fake fake!

Posted by: Ngoni at July 7, 2004 02:41 AM

This is fake! South African infomation signs are yellow and diamond shaped (I think the phone is the other way, not sure). Only directional signs are blue on rectangle (and while the white boarder is rounded, the blue board is not), places of interest are brown, on a directional shape, etc. etc. Most people living in the UK and SADC will have picked this up.

I will find a picture (these tend to be only on the highways) and post it.

But this is fake fake fake!

Posted by: Ngoni at July 7, 2004 02:45 AM

It looks very much like informational signs in Australia. Typically you'd find these signs spread out along the route, possibly every 25 Kms or so. Once you've seen a series of these, with decreasing KMs, you know what the deal is.

Posted by: eric scheid at July 7, 2004 04:33 AM

I live in South Africa... Only directional signs are blue! Also, the left shoulder road painting is yellow, not white (this a colleague pointed out later). I have also just been informed that the maximum distance an emergency sign can indicate is 500m (thats metres not miles).

What makes this ridiculous is that emergency phones are placed 10km apart in most instances in South Africa (obviously this may vary depending on how busy the route is).

Here is another fact I found out from a colleague I showed this to: There in no point on any South African highway that is further than 40-odd kilometres from an urban centre. Now why would a person pass pay phones in several towns to get to an emergency phone 174Km away!? In South Africa, blue signs are also used to indicate distance to a number or towns and cities along that route.

Here is another useful tit bit about South Africa: Emergency roadside assistance calls are free on all mobile networks in South Africa (obviously the actual roadside assistance is not free)... and here is the punch line: there are almost 3 times as many mobile phones as there are vehicles (including cars, buses, trucks, motor cycles, etc.) - and in case you were wondering, the emergancy roadside phones are wireless!

I did some travelling last weekend and confirmed the sign, but unfortunately did not have my digital camera... I post the actual sign as soon as possible

Posted by: Ngoni at July 15, 2004 05:54 AM

This is the exact same picture posted here:

http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/archive/photo37_2.htm

in 2002 as a Naval Safety Center Photo of the Week.

Posted by: RotJ at August 8, 2004 01:14 PM

Blue rectangle signs are not just used for directions they are also used for information in South Africa. Like the sign that tells you how much the toll gate fees are, those are on a rectangle blue sign to.

Posted by: Mandela at August 27, 2004 08:59 AM

Maybe it WAS an emergency phone for someone to make a long distance call (174 Km. ) .

Posted by: Howie Abrahams at September 3, 2004 10:27 PM

This sign is definitely not in South Africa. My guess would be Oz? The font, the shape, etc are not used here. Also, I've never seen such a sign before here in SA.

Posted by: Watts at April 8, 2005 01:50 AM

if you can notice i also even think this is a fake because it seems that someone just took a blue sign and edited the picture to try to make it funny.

Posted by: Ethan Skinner at April 25, 2005 10:24 PM

I'm guessing this is in OZ, possibley on the Nullabor as theres a lack of vegetation in the background and the distances involved point this way, also i never saw emergency phones in this sort of environment any where else in Oz, sadly i work in ITS so tend to notice these things.

Posted by: dean at June 12, 2005 07:40 PM

This is almost definitely a fake because I found the same picture on funnyjunk.com, a website full of fake and slightly (well, more than slightly) off-color supposedly funny (most aren't) photos.

PS if u are wondering about my false name... a helicon is a type of tuba :) and no i don't play the tuba

Posted by: Lord Helicon at July 8, 2005 08:53 AM

It is saying to speed up, so that if you run out of fuel you can coast 174 km to the next phone.

Posted by: Dave at July 22, 2005 11:04 PM