But asking directions in Ireland can be a bit fraught as well. I am a great fan of Charles Handy, the 91-year-old Irish business and social philosopher, who has written a number of thought-provoking books.
In the following excerpt, he describes asking his way in the Wicklow Mountains, just out of Dublin:
“It’s a bare and lonely spot and I got lost so asked a local the way.”
“Sure, it’s easy,” he said, “Just keep going the way you are, straight ahead, and after a while, you’ll cross a small bridge with Davy’s Bar on the far side. You can’t miss it, it’s bright red.”
“Yes. I’ve got that,” I said,” Straight ahead to Davy’s Bar.”
“That’s right,” he said,” Well, about a mile before you get there, turn right up the hill.”
His directions were so logical, I thanked him and drove off. I realised then that his directions made no sense and, as I made my way down to Davy’s Bar wondering which road to the right I should take, I reflected on life.
“By the time you know where you ought to go, it’s too late to get there, or, if you keep on going the way you are, you’ll miss the road to the future, or, if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.”
Therein lies a paradox in creating bilingual road signs in New Zealand. Is this the road to the future and is there the potential to get confused and lost along the way? Certainly the Irish, the Scots, the Welsh and many other countries have no problem with bilingual signs, it’s a phenomenon they’ve got used to. The locals know what they mean, it’s just visitors that get confused.
Different signs can be confusing, as an Irish road code explains the sign - Dangerous Bend Ahead.
“Don’t be confused, there is actually a difference between dangerous corner and dangerous bend. The difference is that one is a corner and the other is a bend.”
There you go, no possibility of confusion - is there?
What seems to get lost in the bilingual debate is, what is the purpose of road signs, do we have so many with too much information that their central purpose is lost?
Road signs are in place to keep us safe, obey the rules and communicate messages to drivers and pedestrians that maintain order and prevent accidents. To be effective, a road sign should meet five basic requirements.
- Fulfil a need
- Command attention
- Convey a clear and simple message
- Command respect from road users
- Give adequate time to respond
Design, placement, operation, maintenance and uniformity are all aspects that should be carefully considered in order to expect the ability of all road signs to meet these five basic requirements. This creates a case for periodically auditing the relative value of all of the environmental clutter that populates our roadsides against those requirements.
A recent statement from the UK equivalent of our AA, suggests getting rid of a third of the roadside signs will help drivers better assess the road ahead, create less confusion and give a better sense of the potential dangers while enhancing the pleasure of driving.
Roadside signs are not a classroom learning experience. They are there to convey simple directional messages about driving safely and respecting the laws of the road.
