NO ATTENTION TO ROAD SIGNS

By Ryan Harrison A European wide survey has given Balearic drivers the thumbs down for road safety when it comes to driving at home and abroad. In a bid to improve road safety, drivers across Europe were polled on their views on the state of road signs and their driving habits. The results of the survey, especially those relating to Balearic and Spanish drivers, were unveiled by the RACC, the Royal Catalan Automobile Club, Spain's equivalent of Britain's RAC, in Palma yesterday. The survey carried out by Eurotest, a consortium of European motoring groups, in conjunction with RACC, revealed that in the Balearics 55'000 drivers admitted to paying no attention to road signs when driving. Out of all Europeans, the Spanish and Italians were deemed the worst behind the wheel. A third of Spain's drivers, however, did say that they were unhappy with the number of signs on the roads and 55% said they were in danger as a result of badly positioned road signs. These findings will be food for thought for road safety groups in the Balearics in light of the recent spate of accidents. The death toll now stands at 65 following another fatal accident on Tuesday which saw a 16 year old motorcyclist killed after being thrown from his bike in Son Servera. One of the main findings from the Eurotest survey was that on average 91% of people wanted a harmonisation of Europe's road signs. Drivers complained about the diversity of signs from country to country and the difficulty they experienced in understanding in particular the parking prohibited signs. Eurotest has urged for a website to be developed that features all possible road signs that may be encountered on a trip abroad. To underline the confusion that can be created by road signs, Eurotest asked motorists to nominate “the most stupid road sign” from a list of 12 proposals. The award winning candidate shows a clutter of signs placed at the entrance of a parking lot in Paris. The large majority agreed that it would be impossible to read and comprehend all signs without creating a major traffic jam. Johann Grill, director general of the FIA Brussels, said: “The fact that 91% of European motorists want better harmonisation of traffic signs makes this a truly European issue. “With road traffic safety policy currently under review in Brussels we make sure that road signs harmonisation is put on the agenda of the European Commission and the European Parliament.” The Eurotest consortium that oversaw the survey is made up of 15 motoring and touring clubs from 14 European countries. It aims to test mobility and mobility-related issues and to raise the awareness of the public and decision-makers about the quality of mobility in Europe.