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A project to make businesses more aware of their customer experience, and how to fix it. By Mark Hurst. |
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Previous: Oktoberfest date | Main | Next: GE remote control packaging
October 3, 2006 12:03 AM
Broken: Warning sign
Deric Bundy writes in:
Here is a picture of a sign I saw in Texas.
If people aren't going to pay attention to the warning signs in the first place, is putting out another sign telling them to obey the signs that they're already ignoring really going to help?
Ok, as a Texan I must admit this one is somewhat redundant, but we do have some that are sillier.
Like the warning sign TxDOT puts up that says "WARNING GUARDRAIL DAMAGE AHEAD."
How broken can you get? Instead of sending out a crew to actually fix the guardrail, they send out a crew to put up two signs.
And to what end? I mean, the folks who end up crashing through guardrails aren't exactly in a position to choose where they're going to up and lose control of their vehicle. "Oops, there's a sign warning of guardrail damage ahead, I better wait to crash until I get to an undamaged guardrail." What the heck?
OK, I'll say up front that I don't know this for sure. But it's *possible* that this isn't broken. "Warning signs" *could* refer to the yellow "recommended speed" signs posted before some curves, exit ramps and so forth; While in most states those speeds are only "recommended", I believe there are a few in which they are actually enforceable speed limits. If that's true and if Texas is one of those states, then I'd appreciate having this warning.
It certainly could be clearer, though.
This is less broken than it first appears. the main problem is the usage of the word 'observe,' which in this case is like 'what holidays do you observe' rather than 'i observed my grandpa pick his nose.' its doing/following, not watching. combine this with stoo's comment, about some signs looking optional, and it makes sense. It informs people that all traffic signs in the area are mandatory. Could be written better but I think the point still gets across well enough.
stoo nailed it. Many states do not require that drivers observe warning signs. They are merely recommendations.
Government corruption Scare: 2 million people were arrested today because people did not observe local signs. The Texas government posted a video camera at this sign and saw several dozen people not looking at the sign. People claim it was warrentless spying devised by, you guessed it, Dubya.
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Previous: Oktoberfest date | Main | Next: GE remote control packaging
Number one in an ordinal, non-excretory sense!
This sign is silly. Maybe they should post another one right next to it, with an arrow.
Posted by: Andrew Tonkin at October 3, 2006 01:55 AM