Driving instructor’s road sign safety fear (From Echo)

Driving instructor’s road sign safety fear

6:50am Tuesday 5th October 2010 in News By George Thorpe

Driving instructor’s road sign safety fear

A DRIVING instructor fears signposts that have been sawn in half are an accident waiting to happem.

Tariq Musaji, 42, of London Road, Billericay, has noticed numerous road signs around Billericay, Basildon and Wickford, where he conducts his lessons, have had their tops sawn off.

Tape has been put on to cover the cut off point of the signs, but their sharp ends have been left sticking out.

Mr Musaji first noticed one outside his house in London Road where the speed limit was being changed from 40 to 30mph.

Mr Musaji said: “They have taken the top off the old sign and then just put some strippy sticky tape on top of it and then put a brand new sign next to it.

“I have noticed more signs like this while I have been doing lessons as well.

“I am worried because some of the cut signs are just over half a metre high, and if there is an accident involving a motorist or cyclist it could be fatal.

“A lot of cars are made out of more lightweight metals nowadays, and at the moment I feel as if it is an accident just waiting to happen.”

Mr Musaji has noticed posts in a similar condition on a roundabout in Ashlyns, Basildon, and another outside the Burnt Mills Industrial estate, also in Basildon as well as others in Wickford.

The driving instructor thinks the posts should have some sort of plastic cap put over the top or be removed altogether.

Mr Musaji has raised the issue with Essex County Council, which look after roads in the district, and is planning to bring the matter up with his local MP John Baron.

A county council spokesman said: “The council has been made aware of the unwanted posts still in place at a small number of sites in the Basildon area.

“Highways officers are now investigating the situation and will work to get these removed.”