
Update the UK Traffic Signs Regulations to a Geometrically Correct Football - robin_reala
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/202305?reveal_response=yes
======
ZeroGravitas
An image to illustrate the issue:

[http://aperiodical.com/wp-
content/uploads/2017/10/footballs-...](http://aperiodical.com/wp-
content/uploads/2017/10/footballs-600x274.png)

~~~
linker3000
Meh, if we're going to get our panties in a bunch about something, let's try
the slippery road surface sign...

[http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02692/Slippery-R...](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02692/Slippery-
Road-sign_2692800c.jpg)

~~~
robin_reala
Nothing wrong with a sign saying you’ll spin your car on a slippery road!

~~~
jaclaz
>Nothing wrong with a sign saying you’ll spin your car on a slippery road!

The point is - I believe - that in the given version (UK) the traces of the
tires cross.

The Italian (possibly normal EU) version is different:

[https://www.laleggepertutti.it/wp-
content/uploads/2013/06/Re...](https://www.laleggepertutti.it/wp-
content/uploads/2013/06/Resized-UT6AR-450x270.jpg)

and tires trace are "normal".

And this is the German version:

[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Ze...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Zeichen_114_-_Schleuder-
_oder_Rutschgefahr%2C_StVO_2013.svg/120px-Zeichen_114_-_Schleuder-
_oder_Rutschgefahr%2C_StVO_2013.svg.png)

where a "third trace" appears.

~~~
robin_reala
They cross because the car on the sign has spun 180˚ rather than simply
sliding. As the car spins the tracks from the left wheels cross over the
tracks from the right.

I admit that the German one is weird, but if the car has taken the corner at
an angle and fast enough that it’s lifted a wheel you could see those tracks.
(e.g.
[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JJVUFblJPIU/T0bmqmdpNFI/AAAAAAAAER...](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JJVUFblJPIU/T0bmqmdpNFI/AAAAAAAAER0/eEWTF9IBCgw/s1600/Front+Wheel+Lift.JPG)
)

~~~
jaclaz
>They cross because the car on the sign has spun 180˚ rather than simply
sliding. As the car spins the tracks from the left wheels cross over the
tracks from the right.

Which means that when UK roads are slippery, they are _really_ slippery, or
maybe continental drivers manage to get away without a 180° spin.

However if we want to be picky, the traces of a 180° spin are different, there
are generally two crossings, unless two wheels (on the same axle) loose
contact with the road.

------
turblety
Another petition rejected (although I do understand it was somewhat in jest).
I do wonder what the point of these petitions are if the government basically
refuses to act on any of them [1]. I guess it's nice because parliament
debates the issue (on some occasions, a few times they just refuse [2]) then
gives a public response of why they're not going to do what the petition asked
for.

[1] [https://petition.parliament.uk/#petitions-with-
response](https://petition.parliament.uk/#petitions-with-response)

[2]
[https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/173199](https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/173199)

~~~
pjc50
There's no point to them. It's a feelgood option like a lift door close button
(edit: apparently this is a bad analogy, suggest a different one please?).
Which is why they've degenerated into jokes.

Also the public are hardly of one mind. See the duelling Brexit petitions,
[https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200004?reveal_respo...](https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200004?reveal_response=yes#response-
threshold) vs
[https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200311?reveal_respo...](https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200311?reveal_response=yes#response-
threshold)

~~~
kbart
_" It's a feelgood option like a lift door close button."_

What's with a lift door close button? Open/close buttons certainly does work
in my apartment building and pretty much any non-ancient lift I've
encountered. Or do they still do nothing in USA?

~~~
vosper
In my recent observation, in the USA they do nothing, but people still
sometimes press them. But in South East Asia they immediately close the lift
door, everyone uses them, and it's great.

It might be that the lifts I was in in SEA were all newer (as were the
buildings) than most of those in the US.

~~~
yoz-y
I have remarked that people from China always use the close door button. At
first it weirded me out because I always waited for the door to close.

In my apartment the close door button is a trap because one has to hold it
during the whole closing door procedure and maybe 1 second more, otherwise the
door will open. It usually results in more time lost than if one just waited
for the door to close.

------
cormullion
This is the petition started by Matt Parker, YouTube's stand-up math comedy
guy
([https://www.youtube.com/user/standupmaths](https://www.youtube.com/user/standupmaths)).
While I wouldn't say it was entirely serious, he suggested that, while
existing signs could be left, future designs could at least be designed to be
more accurate. The official reply seems to have continued the mildly amusing
spirit of the original.

~~~
twelfthnight
Link to the original video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPqKAGyajM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPqKAGyajM)

Also a plug for Matt Parker in general, who does a lot of great technical but
funny work. For example, here he explains the fundamentals of computers with
dominoes
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNuPy-r1GuQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNuPy-r1GuQ)

------
blue1
> The higher level of attention needed to understand the geometry could
> distract a driver’s view away from the road for longer than necessary which
> could therefore increase the risk of an incident.

Whoever wrote this reply wasn't entirely serious.

------
captainmuon
Governments tend to overcomplicate things. It would literally take less than
an hour to update the template they use for new signs. Less time than they
took to write this response. They don't have to change all signs at once, just
phase this in for new signs.

This is a decision that could be made by some small steering group or
executive position, you don't need to invoke the whole parliament or
government. Governments need to find a balance between acting quickly and
"agile" and keeping important decisions to be considered carefully. There are
so many low-hanging fruit, some silly like this, but some more useful, that
you could really change in an instant, but are not.

~~~
scaryclam
Though, as hinted at in the response, there's more to it than you're assuming,
such as research to ensure the new signs are understandable.

Changing things "just because" on your own software systems is fine if that's
how you want to work. Changing signage that needs to be correct and
understandable takes more effort and rolling back is expensive.

I'd much rather see someone take an hour to write a response on why they're
not going to make an unnecessary change to something like this, than waste a
lot more time and money screwing around updating signage that works as it's
meant to already.

------
ColinWright
It's in another comment elsewhere, but here is the video explaining the point:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPqKAGyajM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPqKAGyajM)

------
DanBC
We should ask MS and Google to fix their soccer ball emojis too.

[https://emojipedia.org/soccer-ball/](https://emojipedia.org/soccer-ball/)

------
ksec
Off Topic: If i remember correctly the site runs on Ruby Rails.

~~~
robin_reala
You’re right, it was a GDS project (before the current Parliament Digital
Service was set up):
[https://github.com/alphagov/e-petitions](https://github.com/alphagov/e-petitions)

------
calewis
The UK is in record levels of debt, people are using food banks and the NHS
under attack from both industry and government. This would definitely be a
good use of public funds. Priorities?

~~~
erinaceousjones
A bloke making a maths joke and a civil servant responding humorously to a
maths joke does not plunge us further into debt.

~~~
cat199
See that's the problem..

You have to fund 'maths' instead of just 'math'.

Already makes it cost _at least_ 2x as much.

