Crying Wolf

Rounding the first hairpin on the way down to Combe Martin, I saw a black Audi A1 crashed into the side of the gorge. Three guys were standing in semi-shock, one on his phone. Front end was trashed, bootlid up, showing neatly stored luggage in the boot. A holiday cut short before it had begun. I wanted to stop, but you can’t on those bends. As I drove on, I thought, idiots, for taking the bend too fast!  Then I thought, the arrow <<< warning signs on the approach are pretty clear, but those arrow signs are common – you see them on innocuous bends too. If traffic authorities cry wolf elsewhere, they should put special warning signs at such unusually steep bends, e.g. SLOW! or DANGER! on the road itself. Why not make better use of road surfaces to communicate? OK, some of the blame lies with the young male driver (though he will get it all). But some lies with policymakers for an inadequate driving test which unleashes ill-equipped drivers on to the roads. And undoubtedly blame lies with the DfT and traffic authorities for failing to sign and design roads for optimum safety, although of course they will get away scot-free.