Post by Administrator on Dec 26, 2014 17:21:11 GMT
A.Example of a correctly signed road. You will see these in either the town or country and this is how they should be. Unfortunately because they do not HAVE to be both sides, this has led to some creative experiments by various councils that "Just happen to have a nice fine (our lorry was fined £140 in London) associated with them". And there are examples of illegal size (too small) and incorrectly positioned weight limit signs that are not in the right place to mark the road properly. I DO believe this is WITH INTENT TO MISLEAD. When I pointed out the illegal size sign in Islington and asked for an appology I got no reply! we heard nothing back about the fine though, so ~I think they got the message.
1. Examples of naughty weight limit signage. (some illegal)
Now this is the same village (Grange Moor) but a different road entrance. See how small the weight limit sign is, fitted into a larger sign. The 300mm weight limit sign within this sign is illegal. Also they only placed it at one side which is a bit naughty.
Now lets see an entrance to Huddersfield Town centre. Sign both sides? yep. Correct size? yep. But from this google maps image the left hand sign is not facing forward, its turned to the side. Now this may help a driver approaching from the left of the picture, but one approaching from the right will not be able to see both signs. Which is the entire point of having two signs.
Now this is the very naughty one. Only one sign, correct size but placed at the OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ROAD ON A PEDESTRIAN AREA! and you can not hardly see this sign even approaching from straight on! A really naughty sign and any HGV driver new to the area can easily miss the sign and get picked up on the CCTV camera and the buisness he drives for recieve a nice fine in the post, which they probably will pay and not even bother to investigate = Council £££ KERchING!!
2.Glinton, Peterborough. Here is Werrington Parkway. It is the A15, yet they have another exit of the roundabout as the A15 also! two A15's!!! the SINGLE track road is apparently the main route around peterborough! yet looks minor compared to the exit off the roundabout next to the services that is DUAL CARRIAGEWAY RIGHT THROUGH! but some idiot has placed a TRO order for 7.5 tonnes! It has two signs, correct size but I am sorry a DUAL CARRIAGEWAY signed as the A15 next to a small road exit as the A15 also? and the dual carriageway is 7.5 tonnes?? I am sorry but someone is taking the piss here and I would be very interested to know how many fines have been dished out all over Peterborough as it is a major HGV route from Felixtowe and Norwich. How many foreign drivers could have been fined? Possibly you disagree? Still I strongly feel it needs looking into further.
3.Next example is Mildmay Park, Islington, London - Both misleading sign and illegal size signs at a junction where confusion is employed to the unsuspecting HGV driver!
An illegal size weight limit sign used within another sign (should be 450mm not 300mm) as a rouse (this is by law an obstruction in the road already)
Then only a few hundred yards further a correct size sign but only on one side of the road that the vehicle is already on!!! then AFTER the sign the road forks!!! into two options! The HGV weight limit signS should be either side of the entrance to the road it applies to. And I strongly feel I am correct here.
To back this up with further trickery, lets look at the OTHER end of Mildmay Park... Signs both sides? yes. But Hmmm they are only 450mm and as you will see below in the Road Traffic signs Manual excerpt it says they CAN be 450mm but really they SHOULD be 600mm!
They need to be as visible as the no entry signs to be effective properly. And here they are not. Now the one on the left is quite close to the wall, and it seems they CAN be 450mm when there is no room, but there are many kinds of elbow joints they can use in this instance to set the sign away from the wall, so there really is no excuse. And at £140 a time proffit from mislead HGV drivers I do believe that there is enough evidence here to prove that it IS a trick to procure fines. I dread to imagine all the other similar fine tricks spread out and weaved into the entire city of London and that is not even including the congestion charge! I am not going to look further into this but residents of London and HGV buisness would be wise to investigate as the Councils can have litigation cases brought against them and it a serious "buisness" when so much money is being made from these fines that have illegal road signage in use.
Grange moor (below) (example of elbow joint so more space can be made for larger signs)
4.Another example uses orientation confusion and a double sign trick.
A1 Bedfordshire - St. Neots route to *Eaton soCON* industrial area and "west of A1"?? 18T weight limit - contradictory signs (when driving southbound West is to the left of the A1 and the same route to Eaton Socon industrial area as the 7.5T limit.
This means that at this exit a HGV of 7.5T can drive to Eaton socon but a 18T HGV must drive around, yet there are 2 signs here and one says a 18T HGV CAN use a route here yet it states "West of A1" in truth there is absolutely nowhere for a HGV to go to "west of the A1!" and when driving south if you are a foreign HGV driver quickly thinking north, south, east, west you may work it out as if your driving direction is NORTH, thus you may assume "West of the A1 is East! What is more sinister about this junction is that there are TWO exits and TWO HGV weight limit signs, yet one exit is CLOSED OFF as it is an old service station area and there is also a dirt road leading nowhere. You can follow this on Google maps or go there in person - here are a series of images and a map. I DO have reason to believe with all assembled evidence that this is a sign trick, yet I have no evidence of cameras or fine enforcement unless there is some in the villages, or possibly unmarked police cars or VOSA patrols operating. Have a look and decide for yorselves.
1. Examples of naughty weight limit signage. (some illegal)
Now this is the same village (Grange Moor) but a different road entrance. See how small the weight limit sign is, fitted into a larger sign. The 300mm weight limit sign within this sign is illegal. Also they only placed it at one side which is a bit naughty.
Now lets see an entrance to Huddersfield Town centre. Sign both sides? yep. Correct size? yep. But from this google maps image the left hand sign is not facing forward, its turned to the side. Now this may help a driver approaching from the left of the picture, but one approaching from the right will not be able to see both signs. Which is the entire point of having two signs.
Now this is the very naughty one. Only one sign, correct size but placed at the OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ROAD ON A PEDESTRIAN AREA! and you can not hardly see this sign even approaching from straight on! A really naughty sign and any HGV driver new to the area can easily miss the sign and get picked up on the CCTV camera and the buisness he drives for recieve a nice fine in the post, which they probably will pay and not even bother to investigate = Council £££ KERchING!!
2.Glinton, Peterborough. Here is Werrington Parkway. It is the A15, yet they have another exit of the roundabout as the A15 also! two A15's!!! the SINGLE track road is apparently the main route around peterborough! yet looks minor compared to the exit off the roundabout next to the services that is DUAL CARRIAGEWAY RIGHT THROUGH! but some idiot has placed a TRO order for 7.5 tonnes! It has two signs, correct size but I am sorry a DUAL CARRIAGEWAY signed as the A15 next to a small road exit as the A15 also? and the dual carriageway is 7.5 tonnes?? I am sorry but someone is taking the piss here and I would be very interested to know how many fines have been dished out all over Peterborough as it is a major HGV route from Felixtowe and Norwich. How many foreign drivers could have been fined? Possibly you disagree? Still I strongly feel it needs looking into further.
3.Next example is Mildmay Park, Islington, London - Both misleading sign and illegal size signs at a junction where confusion is employed to the unsuspecting HGV driver!
An illegal size weight limit sign used within another sign (should be 450mm not 300mm) as a rouse (this is by law an obstruction in the road already)
Then only a few hundred yards further a correct size sign but only on one side of the road that the vehicle is already on!!! then AFTER the sign the road forks!!! into two options! The HGV weight limit signS should be either side of the entrance to the road it applies to. And I strongly feel I am correct here.
To back this up with further trickery, lets look at the OTHER end of Mildmay Park... Signs both sides? yes. But Hmmm they are only 450mm and as you will see below in the Road Traffic signs Manual excerpt it says they CAN be 450mm but really they SHOULD be 600mm!
They need to be as visible as the no entry signs to be effective properly. And here they are not. Now the one on the left is quite close to the wall, and it seems they CAN be 450mm when there is no room, but there are many kinds of elbow joints they can use in this instance to set the sign away from the wall, so there really is no excuse. And at £140 a time proffit from mislead HGV drivers I do believe that there is enough evidence here to prove that it IS a trick to procure fines. I dread to imagine all the other similar fine tricks spread out and weaved into the entire city of London and that is not even including the congestion charge! I am not going to look further into this but residents of London and HGV buisness would be wise to investigate as the Councils can have litigation cases brought against them and it a serious "buisness" when so much money is being made from these fines that have illegal road signage in use.
Grange moor (below) (example of elbow joint so more space can be made for larger signs)
4.Another example uses orientation confusion and a double sign trick.
A1 Bedfordshire - St. Neots route to *Eaton soCON* industrial area and "west of A1"?? 18T weight limit - contradictory signs (when driving southbound West is to the left of the A1 and the same route to Eaton Socon industrial area as the 7.5T limit.
This means that at this exit a HGV of 7.5T can drive to Eaton socon but a 18T HGV must drive around, yet there are 2 signs here and one says a 18T HGV CAN use a route here yet it states "West of A1" in truth there is absolutely nowhere for a HGV to go to "west of the A1!" and when driving south if you are a foreign HGV driver quickly thinking north, south, east, west you may work it out as if your driving direction is NORTH, thus you may assume "West of the A1 is East! What is more sinister about this junction is that there are TWO exits and TWO HGV weight limit signs, yet one exit is CLOSED OFF as it is an old service station area and there is also a dirt road leading nowhere. You can follow this on Google maps or go there in person - here are a series of images and a map. I DO have reason to believe with all assembled evidence that this is a sign trick, yet I have no evidence of cameras or fine enforcement unless there is some in the villages, or possibly unmarked police cars or VOSA patrols operating. Have a look and decide for yorselves.