Signs Of Our Time Distract: CRERAR

Sign, sign, everywhere, a sign,

Blockin’ out the scenery,

Breakin’ my mind,

Do this, Don’t do that,

Can’t you read the sign?

That famous chorus from Ottawa’s own Five Man Electrical Band’s 1970 hit single Signs continues to have significance but these days in an unexpected way.

We refer to people who text while driving as “distracted drivers” but today’s roadways are rife with built-in distractions, an endless array of roadside signs.

When most of us began driving street signs were limited to Yield, Stop, Maximum Speed and the like. Yellow diamonds with arrows indicating the path our lane would take us next plus many easily understood symbols our brain could interpret almost instantaneously. Few words, many symbols, and signs that were placed a significant distance from one another, providing enough time for our brain to understand.

When we drive down our roads today, we are bombarded with more signs placed close together. Many of these signs now appear no more than a stone’s throw from one another and many have exchanged words for symbols therefore slowing down their interpretation. Our old favourites from above still exist and have been joined by the likes of Red Light Camera, No Engine Brakes, Businesses Open During Bank Street Construction and Danger From Overhead Wires. This last one is especially disconcerting because it encourages drivers to look up through their windshields to locate the offending wires.

Most word-filled signs also contain French translations below or beside the English message, making driving for French-speakers even more of a challenge as they seek out the translated portion.

Depending on the length of my trip, by the time I’ve arrived at my destination, I sometimes feel like I’ve read a novella with bad grammar and a poor plot. More worrisome, however, is the sheer number of these signs and the fact their multi-word messages are very distracting.

What’s good for sign-making businesses and increased employment in a number of industries doesn’t necessarily align with a safe environment. It’s time for Ottawa City Hall and the province to devise a more effective method of communicating with drivers.

Howard Crerar is a project manager and has worked in the software industry for three decades.

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