Letter: Road signs are unfit for present times

On the A625 road travelling from Calver towards Froggatt, the trees have now shed their leaves allowing spectacular views of the Froggatt/Curbar edges.

Before engaging a sharp left turn to cross over the River Derwent, by a narrow stone bridge, there is a compliant 20 mph speed sign. This fairly short stretch of road to the bridge has three speed signs and one road sign. Not far off the bridge, the speed limit is raised from 40mph to 60mph (national speed sign) exactly where a road sign shows 'Slow' (see photo). This road marking must be hidden in snow, even falling leaves. Moving the 60mph sign beyond the bridge is the answer.

Many motorists will have, no doubt, many further examples just in Derbyshire and Yorkshire.

One more back in Yorkshire concerns the stretch of road between Middlewood and Oughtibridge where centre carriageway road markings could easily encourage dangerous overtaking due to at least two or three suspensions of the inner continuous white line(s). It is not that long ago that a fatal crash occurred near the Snake Inn where there are continuous double white lines at the carriageway centre.

For careful motorists, the observation may be considered to be irrelevant, but far too many motorists drive to the speed limit (and over) and not to the prevailing conditions and circumstances. This gives rise to tailgating and dangerous overtaking.

Whilst the safety guidances in the official Highway Code are perfectly correct and illustratively presented, it seems that in certain instances applications are left wanting. A bit like VAR.

In an ideal world, few changes and adjustments would not be necessary, but as things stand, to date, some safety standards continue to be adversely affected, largely because of the apparent ill-conceived positioning of road signs and road markings making them unfit for present times.