Roadside art ‘distracting’ to drivers
March 19, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Insurance statistics from the UK have shown that drivers are distracted by roadside art to the point that 12 per cent of all motorists have had an accident or a near miss because they were too busy rubber necking.
With that in mind car insurance firm esure set about surveying 1,000 of its customers and found that 66 per cent of all drivers surveyed admitted to taking their eyes off the road to glance at roadside art, popular tourist attractions, a nice view (interpret that one how you will) or an accident on the other side of the road.
Further more, 28 per cent of the drivers surveyed admitting to braking suddenly when they passed something they had wanted to see while 52 per cent said they had slowed significantly when passing a point of interest to get a better look.
Interestingly 47 per cent of those polled said landmarks should not be visible from the road while the exact same percentage (not to be confused with the exact same people) said speed limits should be slowed near points of interest.
“Spotting famous landmarks has long been a fun part of road trips, but this can also lead drivers to distraction as they take their eyes away from the road, slow down or brake suddenly,” said head of risk and underwriting at esure insurance Mike Pickard. “Motorists should keep their eyes on the road at all times – taking them off the road ahead even for a split second, could be dangerous. If motorists want to look at a landmark or take a quick photo, they should either pull into a lay-by when it is safe to do so or wait until they are not the ones in the driving seat.”
73 per cent of those surveyed were in favour of having a roadside parking bay built to view the related attraction while 35 per cent admitted they probably wouldn’t use one even if it did exist.
Female motorists were also more likely to be distracted by roadside attractions with 68 per cent saying they’d take their eyes off the road as compared to 63 per cent of males.
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What about roadside bloody crosses. With the silver cellophane that usually comes wrapped around flowers, they are truly distracting.
Not to mention that under most council rules, the crap that is left around roadside crosses (maybe the crosses themselves) would be considered litter and any persons leaving it there should be fined.
they arn’t serious,are they.what distracting about a 20 ft megan gale or jen hawkins smiling in their undies…
I think a bigger distraction would be Jen Hawkins in your passenger seat…
Graffiti is worse , no idea why women take their eyes off the road more than men when we dont perv ;)
Super Cujo – I think roadside crosses are a sobering reminder of how dangerous our roads and driving really are.
The government would have us believe that as long as we stick to the speed limit we will all be magically safe.
Yet how many people have been killed or seriously injured while travelling legally at the speed limit but were unfortunate to have been distracted, or been the victem of another driver being distracted, at just the wrong time? The story above is evidence that it happens…
…and yet every day more and more roadside billboards are erected bigger and brighter and even illuminated at night to make sure we don’t miss them.
Our politicians demonstrate through their actions on a daily basis that when it comes to roads the imperative is not safety, it’s cash.
I’d have to agree with Zorro.
Of course most of my near misses have been due to female joggers in peak (peek?) hour rather than advertising!
rubber necking isn’t the only issue. I see people still using mobile phones or smoking with one hand on the wheel.
AMEN To that JEKYL & SuperCujo, except for Megan Gale i dont think she is hot at all, plus is such snobby stuckup mole anyhow….
Just concentrate on Jenn Hawkins and Natalie Bassangthwaite in your passanger seat….oh my.. ive lost control already….lol
My favourite is the ones in Sth East Qld, that say ’slow down” or tailgating is an offense” etc.
They often put a few bits of info together, requiring it to be displayed over 2 screens.
So, you drive at 100 kph, see the lit up sign, & can’t tear your eyes away till you’ve seen the follow-on screen.
Thus, doubling the time your eyes are off the road. And all Gov’t sponsored.
If we’re all sensible, then we wouldn’t eyeball thoses signs for that length of time; so then the Gov’t is wasting their money having them there.
Or, if it’s ok to have your eyes off the road for that long, then the Gov’t is at fault if you crash.
The “Hotel” is such a waste of land….what a rip off.
As a practicing landscape architect I am of the opinion that roadside landscape art should be used only in the appropriate safe locations. I think the art makes a trip that little bit more interesting. Nutural landscape art should be used moreso than man-made structures to be of a more subtle art piece.
Interesting how the planners allow things to be build adjacent to road/highways. Take the Angel of the North (UK) and the Wickerman, Bridgewater (UK) deliberately build alongside motorways.
Yeh I have a look but its down to discipline really. Roll on the summer, how many times have I nearly shunted watching women…Ooooh!!
I tried to drive to that “hotel” without going on the tollway, well you CANNOT!
Just thought u should all should know, so dont bother, from the tollway only.Interesting just a shell!
Cheers
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