The Department of Transport is being encouraged by a campaign launched today, to approve a new road sign that warns motorists about a pothole ahead. University of the Arts London signage expert Phil Baines has created the new sign in response to motorist’s calls.
In a recent survey over 80% of motorists said they would be in favor of such a sign as 90% say they are not alerted well enough about potholes. Department of Transport guidelines are followed in the sign. The artist said the warning road signs are in place as a safety measure to warn of possible dangers, and potholes are definitely in that category.
Confused.com the car insurance site for insurance comparison launched the campaign for the sign to be introduced. Although pothole repair is a long-term solution this would take over 11 years even if the complete funding were available.
Chief marketing officer Mike Hoban at Confused.com said that the UK’s road signs currently include warnings about wild animals, wild horses, cattle and of course let’s not forget toads but potholes have yet to receive approval to appear.
The pothole sign is firstly vital to prevent accidents and secondly to reduce the need to make an insurance claim for the damages while maintenance fixes things later and later. The pothole road sign was Ted Relf, a Kent plumber’s idea. He designed his own warning sign in 2010 and made headlines when the local council removed it.
Everyone complains about the potholes now we need to take advantage of the chance we have to do something. Potholes have an annual cost to motorists of over £400 with each driver hitting 10 per day on average. In recent years in the UK the number of potholes has skyrocketed. In 2009 there were approximately 1.5 million today there are an estimated 2 million.
