Sign of the times

If you've read yesterday's post, you will know that my car suffered a flat battery and had to be revived with some Jump Leads.

Things is, once you've got the car going, you need to drive it around a bit to get the battery fully charged again. So I decided to take a drive out to Worminghall, a small village in the countryside where I live (apparently they have an ancient 16th Century pub called the Clifden Arms, and I wanted to check it out as a potential place to eat).

Everything was going hunky dorey until I drove past a road-sign. I read it, did a double-take, and then turned the car round in order to drive past it again. Yep, it did actually say what I thought it said....................... bloody hell.

Pic.No.1. Blimey, I've never seen a sign saying that before

Not only that, it appeared to have been erected by the local council because it was conforming to all of the Highways Agency regulations regarding roadsigns. Surely it wasn't for real? It had to be a fake.

When I got home, I looked at the photograph I had taken, and searched the internet for information about the sign and found this article on the BBC .......

"Sign warns go slow 'For Fox Sake' on Oxfordshire road

A sign has been put up on a rural road in Oxfordshire asking drivers to spare a thought for foxes when it comes to speed.

The sign, which reads "For Fox Sake Slow Down", has been put up on a single carriageway between the villages of Wheatley and Waterperry.

It was spotted and photographed by Jo Abbot, a member of the RAC Foundation. 

She said: "It seems someone has got fed up with speeding cars and decided to try and do something about it." 

She added: "Despite its rural setting, this is a busy and fast bit of road. 

"To that extent the sign has worked - I certainly slowed down for a second glance." 

It is not known how long the sign has been in place. 

Mrs Abbot said although it looked as if it had been done professionally, the sign was not legal because it had not been authorised as outlined by the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002. 

Despite that, the RAC Foundation said it served a purpose to remind people to watch their speed on country roads. 

According to the Highway Code, the speed limit for cars and motorbikes on a single carriageway is 60mph unless otherwise stated."

Blimey, someone had must have gone properly out of their way to make that sign. I mean, how pissed off must you have to be by speeding cars to recreate a full replica of a council road sign with full electro-plated pole?

It reminded me of an amusing story that I read in the paper a few weeks ago. Apparently, a pensioner was so angry about cars and lorries speeding through the village in which he lived, that he spent a whole day using the pedestrian crossing outside his house..... making sure he crossed the road verrrrrry slooowwwly. Apparently he caused a four mile, honking tailback with his escapades.

As you can probably see, I am a big fan of crusaders.... people who are willing to stand up for the things they feel strongly about. The are brave and quirky. And guess what?! I have got a crusade of my own going on. I can't tell you about it now, but suffice to say, I have a meeting with my Member of Parliament, John Howell, on Saturday. Yeh, I like to escalate problems!