A Traffic Sign
There is a wide road near my house, but we are restricted to a speed of 15 kilometers an hour there. Though nearby there is an omi-kenshi , a spinning factory, I do not know why we have to slow down there. Do you think that 15 kilometers an hour is adequate?
Thank you for response! Fortunately, I have never had an accident. But I have to be careful when I drive, especially when I take my friends in my car. I hope your car will be fixed soon.
That's a pretty strange traffic sign: it asks you to stop and go fifteen kilometres an hour at the same time. Or maybe it tells you to stop first and only then drive at fifteen kilometres an hour?
The Japanese strike me as very cautious, and they're very eager to issue danger warnings: in this country you can't use an escalator without hearing a recorded voice that reminds you of the danger you're exposing yourself to. Everything is abunai.
But maybe the low speed limit is justified? Is is a residential area? Where I'm from, environmentalists and local people have a greater say in how things are run, and in many places they have forced municipal governments to slow down traffic in residential areas. They didn't only put up new traffic signs but built in actual impediments to traffic such as road bumps that force drivers to reduce their speed.
My dad loves his car and he's foaming at the mouth whenever he talks about those road bumps; he can get very angry. Myself, I don't think they're necessarily a bad thing, but then I'm less enthusiastic about cars anyway.
I have seen similar traffic signs (speed limit sign with stop sign) many times but the sign which tells us to drive at 15kilometers an hour might be rare.
There are many signs which say "Dangerous!" and as Ruedi says, we are forced to hear warnings wherever we go. I think most of these warnings are unnecessary because they are saying very natural things. Then, why do they exist? In my opinion, they are needed when dealing with an accident and finding out who is to blame. Suppose in a department store, a boy falls down the escalator which doesn't have a recorded warning, his mother might sue the store for not having told them that there is a possibility of falling down. This is silly, but such a case can happen.
Masami Fujimoto :: April 29, 2003 10:25 PM
I don't know about the neighborhood of your house, but it must be a place where we should be careful. At least I believe the traffic sign.
Anyway, my car struck a pole in the parking lot of a shopping center today. So I have to have the car fixed. I'm shocked because I thought of myself as a cautious driver. Accidents will happen because of carelessness. Be careful when you drive!