people are stupid and selfish - here's proof (1 Viewer)

[andrew markworthy]

This has a lengthy preamble, but trust me, it's worth it.

We live on a housing estate with only one access to a public highway. Said highway is currently closed in one direction to allow for some major building works. The side of the highway that is still open takes traffic going in one direction (south) but traffic wanting to head north has to take a brief (two minutes at most) detour through an adjacent estate.

Going along the highway in a northerly direction, there are signs for at least five miles warning that there is a detour ahead. When you get to where the detour starts, there are huge signs telling you to turn left. It's still possible to go straight on for about a hundred yards, but all this does is give you access to the private road into our estate. And indeed, this is what the notices say - 'Detour starts here. Access ahead for estate residents only'. Plus, to reinforce this, the road to the estate has been narrowed with traffic cones. Nice and unambiguous, yes? Alas, not for some motorists. We have two specimens of moron:

(1) Those who drive straight on and haven't noticed the detour signs. Both my wife and I have been stopped by confused motorists who've got on to the estate who want to know where to pick up the main highway. 'What diversion?' is the usual response.

(2) Those who see the 'estate residents only' sign and think that this means that the estate residents somehow have privileged access and can get through without the detour and accordingly, they will use this shortcut as well (incidentally, there is no shortcut - we're in the same position as non-residents). Nearly every one of these is a BMW driver, curiously enough, and they are really pissed when you tell them that there is no secret way through.

You might think that this would be a rare problem, but at least once a day when we've been leaving the estate or returning we've seen someone committing one of these errors, so extrapolating from this sampling, there's probably at least 40 such incidents per hour. It's now got to the stage where the police are regularly stationing a patrol car.

Therefore we have a worryingly high percentage of drivers who either don't notice traffic signs or think that they can flout regulations and appropriate the rights of others.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

BM drivers are usually too busy yapping on their mobile phones to notice such distractions as road signs.

 

[Moe Maishlish]

I agree that people need to pay more attention to the road when driving... but the title of your thread


lead me to believe that you'd be providing us with an amusing story of stupidty & selfishness. How are the actions of these poor misguided souls either stupid, or selfish? It sounds to me like they're just making a mistake.

I'd be willing to bet that they didn't ignore the sign on purpose. Most likely they were just not paying as close attention as they shoul have, which we are all sometimes guilty of. Most likely, people who have made this mistake once won't be making it again.

(Sorry, I'm not thread-crapping... I just want to know your reasoning behind thinking these people are stupid & selfish).

Moe.

 

[brentl]

Moe, you seen the big signs that speak of impending doom right? It's the same thing. The only difference is it LOOKS like the road goes through so people ignore the sign and say "if somebody elso can do that so can I". It's that self importance thing.

"Road ends 100 metres, turn here for detour" how many people would go off a cliff because they saw tire tracks going past the turn off? A few at least

Brent

 

[JonZ]

"people are stupid and selfish"

Your just figuring this out now?

 

[andrew markworthy]

I'm afraid so. Unlike New Yorkers (who are born cynical) we humble country folk have to learn the hard way.

 

[JonZ]

I was born in the Bronx but grew up a hour west of NYC.

So Im country folk too And prefer it that way. I couldnt live in the city.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

perhaps you should change the sign to 'no thru way' or 'road ends' or 'no shortcut'. or put in a gate.

CJ

 

[brentl]

"perhaps you should change the sign to 'no thru way' or 'road ends' or 'no shortcut'. or put in a gate."

What?? put up a sign for the REALLY ignorant?

B

 

[Joe Szott]

I would tell the Beemers that for a pound sterling you'll show them the way, then direct them back to the diversion route. That way you're selfish, they're stupid, and the entire thread comes full circle

 

[Mike Graham]

My family owned a restaurant for several years, and had two doors at the front; one leading directly into the dining room, the other into the kitchen. The kitchen door was always closed, and had a large sign that read "NO ENTRY - TRY OTHER DOOR." Sadly, people were constantly walking in through this door.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

if it would save me time every day, i would.

CJ

 

[Eric_L]

Put a sign at the front of your estate:

"Welcome to Sunny-Bottom Weight-Loss Nudist Resort

Mandatory Nudity beyond this point"

That oughta do it.

 

[Jeff]

I used to work in retail. It's a fact that most people simply do not read or do not want to read. I would assume it's the later.

 

[Julian Reville]

I suggest a sign that says:

Private drive: TRESPASSERS WILL BE CASTRATED

 

[brentl]

"Private drive: TRESPASSERS WILL BE CASTRATED"

See now you're assuming that they were all men

What about the woman doing 120 while drinking coffee, doing makeup, and talking on the phone.

B

 

[John Watson]

Not that it applies to Andrew's case, but there are too freaking many signs.

Many are ill written, poorly located, or can be obscured to your vision by the SUV or truck ahead of you.

Add that to cell phones, cd changers, plain lousy drivers (the kind whose IQ measure is considerably less than the HP at their fingertips.)

 

[Kenneth]

See that's what happens when a species gets so advanced that natural selection no longer applies

Why else would we need to have warning labels on knives that they are sharp

Maybe there needs to be a pit for people that don't read the signs. Then natural selection can come into play again. (said tongue in cheek, of course)

Kenneth

 

[Tim Fennell]

Instead of "Access ahead for estate residents only" a sign that says "no outlet" or "dead end" might make the whole detour non-ambiguous.

I think that changing the sign shouldn't be necessary but given that so many people have no idea what is happening, I guess a change is needed.

Tim

 

[Philip Hamm]

I don't need proof all I need to do is look around and in a mirror for it.