Should Drivers Be Able To Read Road Signs?
By Greg L | 5 December 2007 | Virginia Politics | 30 Comments
Now here’s a fascinating idea: require that driver license exams be conducted in English. This is the proposal of an Alabama State Senator, and something that we could probably do here in Virginia as well. It’s kind of a no-brainer that when all road signs are in English, you should make sure that drivers actually have the ability to read those signs.
Today is the deadline for pre-filing legislation in the House of Delegates. After today, delegates can only file a few additional proposals. This would be a really good bill to get in before that deadline expires.
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I think drivers should be able to recognize international signs and all basic traffic signs. I don’t know what Virginia’s policy is for illiterate drivers, but when I first took my driver’s exam, the man next to me was read the questions by the state trooper and had to answer orally because he couldn’t read. I’m in the geezer age bracket and a lot of the men my age can no longer read street signs at night so they’ve become a hazard as they slow down to try to decipher the street names. Throw in a little rain and you’ve got an additional problem.
Honest feedback… I spend seven years in the Far east and five in Europe. International Road Signs take away the requirement to be able to read any particular language… you just need to recognize the symbols. International Road Signs were developed in Europe to overcome the multiple languages spoken over there. The United States has pretty much adopted these standards (from my trips around the Country). I actually think the Alabama State Senator who came up with this idea wasn’t really that familiar with road signs (or this subject in General).
I’m one of those small Government folks who believes in as few laws as possible. I’m particularly adverse to laws that don’t really make sense or that we don’t really need. This proposal falls in those categories.
oldsoldier, I would have to agree. The laws like these will be made out as racists against those who do not speak English. This may be, IMHO, an attempt to get on the band wagon of ILLEGAL immigration just for the sake of being able to say, I proposed legislation to curb ILLEGAL immigration and the state senate or house struck it down at the next election cycle.
The legislation of this type does not promote unity, but allows challenges for ACLU types to come forward. I felt the signs are universal in nature and have been for quite some time. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that English should be the language of the land and everyone should be able to read enough to get by. _______________________________
anonymoustoo,
I have sat at a left turn signal going through ever siren sound in my siren box behind a blue haired lady trying to get around her as my partner was on an elderly mans chest doing compressions. She wouldn’t move for anything but a green light. She was the only one in front of me. After we made the turn she still had a hard time getting over to the right so I could get around her to get to the hospital. I had to go into oncoming traffic to get around her. The man passed away and I will never know if the minute or two we sat at the light would have made a difference or not.
Here’s a test…throw/toss a frisbee at someone. If they do not react fast enough to catch it (don’t actually HAVE to), then they have no business driving. That being said, take away a driver’s license (or TRY to) from someone who has been driving since you LITERALLY had to “crank the engine” and you will see a side to the elderly (who have problems driving as not all fall into this category) you have never seen before. You are taking away their “independence”, in their minds.
We need to get rid of the mentality of driving being a “right” and make it understood that it is a “priviledge.”
I agree JL!! It is a privilege not a right.
John Light,
Right you are. I remember when I got my license going before the judge along with a group of teenagers. The judge made it very clear and we all understood driving is indeed a PRIVELDGE, and not a right. I would think all new drivers to Virginia would have to go before a judge not just the youngsters. We can’t forget a fair amount of the illegal aliens don’t even bother to get a license and/or insurance.
There are still many signs that you must read while you are on the road. One that comes to mind is right turn on red. How many times have you sat behind someone that won’t do this and the light won’t trip ubtil someone going straight or turning lt trips it for you. Maybe there are so many accidents when you are turning left on a reen light with a sign that says yeild to on coming traffic. I’m sure if I drive around I wll b able to give more examples of having to actually read a road sign.
Some people can’t even read the sign that say’s speed limit 25.
International Signs make sense for all of us. Especially those who travel a lot. Greg, are you against IDL’s??
When people come to the U.S., IF they are to drive they should learn our signs, just as we should learn theirs when we are overseas or in some corrupt Centeral/South American country, say, Mexico.
English is the International Language, that is a fact. Save Brazil, all air traffic controllers speak it.
So, UnMasMexican, are you against English being spoken as a common language all over the free world as well as here in the United States?
Why is it that you are always on the side of the illegal? Do you support Americans going to Mexico and demanding that everything be written in English as well as Spanish? Do you support Americans sneaking across the border (why anyone would do that, I don’t know, unless they are a criminal) and then demading goods and services from the government?
Just as we gave the world the finger with the metric system, just like we gave France the finger and call ours champagne as well, who do we REALLY serve by changing our signs? Our signs are such that any illiterate can figure it out, why can’t you?
What John Light said on 5 Dec 2007 at 7:00 pm
Too late, the U.S. signed up to the Vienna Convention of Road signs and Signals and International Traffic laws a long time ago.
I think we stuck our finger in our eye by not going metric a long time ago. It’s easier to export things we make if they are metric, and you probably noticed that we need help with our exports. Personally, I would like to get by with one set of tools instead of two.
oldsoldier - I’m with you! Pres. Carter tried to get the US to join the world and go metric (background in science), but then came Reagan who probably didn’t know there was metric. Carter also wanted to install solar panels at the White House. Of course, most everybody laughed. As it stands, the US and one, maybe two, other countries do not use metrics. If John Light thinks that’s a patriotic achievement (giving the finger), let him!
US still backwards with temperature readings using Fahrenheit. With Celcius so simple (and in use all over the world) it’s a shame that we freeze at 32 and boil at 212 (?), when we could freeze at 0 and boil at 100.
While I’m at it. Why don’t we use the 24 hr system when it comes to traveling? There would never be a mistake. And another gripe: When it comes to dates, US is the only developed country that puts the DAY in the center. Anywhere else, today would be 05/12/07, or the formal way in Scandiavia: 071205. Either way, the MONTH is in the middle. - Let’s see, is there anything else I can gripe about before I go to bed?
“I think we stuck our finger in our eye by not going metric a long time ago.”
Just about everything is engineered in metric in the USA, including roads.
As far as whether drivers should be able to read signs, I recall a news story about a driver from Mexico who stopped on the train tracks and caused a train accident. He claimed he couldn’t read the RR crossing sign….
Interestingly enough, the sign that Mexico uses for RR crossings looks almost identical to the one used in the USA.
MPR - Have you heard anybody say that he lives about 20 kms away? Metric may be used in construction of roads, but it certainly isn’t used while driving on them. And lengths, wow! 12 inches=foot, 3 feet= 1 yard, and heaven only knows how many yards in a mile. - As for the guy on the train track who couldn’t read the sign; maybe the sun was in his eyes! Glad he survived.
Welcome back Krusty!
The history of the metric system is fascinating, isn’t it? I love how it all meshes together so simply and is geared to earth measure. Sigh.
I love working with it but to be truthful, I don’t think metrically. Too stubborn, I guess. Someone should have forced me. Probably the only way I would have ever learned to think metrically. I guess it is easier for me to do something the hard way than it is to adapt to something new. (meaning new to me…not the rest of the world)
~~splash~~
As I said, Krusty wouldn’t stay away and it hasn’t even been 3 days yet!!!
I’m a runner, so km/mi is okay with me. Although, oddly, if you are also a runner, you may have noticed that in the typical, say 10K race (~ 6.2 mi), the splits are given in miles and not in km. Funny, eh?
Common sign shapes generally don’t require knowledge of English. A stop sign is obvious. Traffic lights are lights. How the heck do you know where you are, if you cannot read place names, either because you cannot read English or because you cannot read at all? Emergency type signage is also provided in English. I really do not think DMV should provide testing in any language but English, nor should it provide testing in any format but written.
On Q-tips (elderly drivers where all you see is the puff of white hair), yes, they sometimes have lousy reaction time. It’s not true of all seniors. Some are spry. Drunk teenagers and most people on cell phones have lousy reactions times. Maybe all State Troopers should carry frisbees and administer the frisbee test, as described above by a poster, when an infraction is observed? Get hit by the frisbee and lose your license!
LOL Red…I just thought of a line from a movie….”If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)) I think it can be reworded, “If you can catch a frisbee, you can drive a car!”
When I lived in Europe and drove a lot I had to read their road signs, be they in German, French, Dutch or Danish. It was easier in the UK of course, but they made up for that by making me drive on the wrong side of the road.
3Dic 64 - Never said I was leaving this site forever. Simply got fed up with the drivel about the satanic Christmas parade. That just got unbearable. It was ONLY a Christmas parade, but GregL, as is his wont, played it to the max. and ywall bit!
Oh, it wasn’t so bad, Krusty. You’re being too glass-half-empty here! We got to discuss the Germanic origin of the Krampus and the Greek origin of the “X” in Xmas, dispelling notions that only Mexicans would associate a horned, whip-toting beast with Christmas and that “Xmas” is simply an evil secularization.
Red Woman 8:51 - I’m not a runner. Please tell me what “splits” are. Thought “splits” had to do with the size of champagne bottles or something like that.
# Krusty said on 3 Dec 2007 at 2:44 pm:
I’m ashamed of myself for actually taking the time to read all of this. Talk about tempest in a teapot. I must give it to Greg L. He sure know which buttons to push. This case has all the ingredients he needs; Christ, Satan, Mexican flags, US flags not high enough, illegal immigrants, scared children, religious proselytizeing with candy canes. Even ACLU was mentioned.
I, for one, am done, d o n e, DONE with this bagatelle!!!!
Hasta la vista. Ciao. Auf Wiederseh’n, au revoire, sampai jumpa lagi, tata, etc. etc.
Looks like a permanent good bye to me. Nothing was mentioned about just the parade thread, besides, if you were finished with the parade thread you could have just stopped posting instead of making a grandstand exit.
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/\/\3|)iç 64 (Winner of the BVBL 40,000th post award) said on 3 Dec 2007 at 5:53 pm:
BTW, IMHO, Krusty hasn’t left, he will be back in 3-5 days either as Krusty or with a new handle. He can’t stand not being able to voice his opinion
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I was of course situated right about your gender. I have been online long enough to know those that make the grand exit for attention will be back. I beleive your first post back was:
Krusty said on 5 Dec 2007 at 8:47 pm
This makes it less than 3 days. How about not making a grand exit next time and just stop posting (c:
Krusty, a split is like a timing point. Many standard race distances are measured in km. Most Americans still tend to think of pace in terms of per-mile, though. When someone says they had a “negative split” as far as a race, then they mean that they ran the second half of the race faster than the first.
3Dic 64 , Never thought I’d made such an impression on you! Awesome!!! You’ll notice in my 3 Dec. comment that I said: “I’m done, d o n e, DONE “WITH THIS BAGATELLE”. The bagatelle being the devil in the parade.
BTW, we women would rather make a grand ENTRANCE than a grand exit. So, TADA, I’M BACK!!! To your chagrin, evidently. Admit it though; you have secretly missed my clever, profound, well thought-out, etc. etc. comments.
You are a lively debater Ms Krusty. (c; I hold no hard feelings or such against you (c:
/\/\3|)iç 64 (Winner of the BVBL 40k post award) said on 6 Dec 2007 at 4:18 pm:
I love the fact that you said this….it wouldn’t be any fun or educational if everyone agreed, now would it
Ok, so drivers….well, lets not forget about the pedestrians.
They should be able to read signs in English too. I used to work in DC and Arlington ( culture shock to me , just from being raised in Manassas)
I Always head about “j walking/ jay walking ( I know by now, it must be slang, like bob wire :), forgive me ) anyway article for WTOP:
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1305638
Of course drivers tests should be in english! The fact that we let DMV give a test in any language is apalling. High school ESL students who fail their english classes go and pass their drivers test in spanish, farsi or some other language. A year or two ago highway workers were killed in Fairfax because the driver could not read the flashing sign warning of danger (big portable type like Colgan used on 28 in November). So the international sign argument is nothing more than a crutch. We NEED a federal law designating english as the national language.
Maybe one of our progressive NOVA legislators will follow Alabamas example.
“MPR - Have you heard anybody say that he lives about 20 kms away? Metric may be used in construction of roads, but it certainly isn’t used while driving on them.”
That really isn’t relevant to exports, however (the comment was made that if the US was switched to the metric system the US could export more…I stated that just about everything in the US is engineered in metric).
But in case you were wondering, the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control devices does define what a metric speed limit sign would look like in the USA:
http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/HTM/2003r1/part2/fig2b-03_longdesc.htm
I just bought some 10 AWG wire from Home Depot. In other countries they don’t use AWG (American Wire Gauge), they use mm2 (cross sectional area of the wire in square millimeters).
What do you know, the wire I bought says right on it:
(AWG 10)5.26mm2
You can find metric in places you’d never expect now.
What? You mean people really want to establish a standard, rather than write laws that make us all wear different shoes? (pun on earlier blog showing the stupidity of diversity laws and concepts that self-segregate us into ethnic, gender, racial, and religious groups that can’t understand one another)
I thought creating homogenous standards between people so they can communicate bettter was TABOO for liberals.
It might be nice to have our international shoes all be measured using the same “ruler”, but have some room for different color, size and a left and right foot, while frowing on shoes designed for BOZO the Clown, as being just too radical for the society to deal with.
Even kids know that it is best to all be the same (homogenous, slang speaking kid society), while still being a LITTLE bit different (blue hair or red hair). But, when you are a LOT different, and ask for special social, financial, educational, and language priviliges consistant with the Aliens of STAR WARS or the Underworld, you are one of those nutcases from a different PLANET.