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Beware, elderly people getting crosser: OAPs demand revamp of insulting crossing sign
Last updated at 09:22am on 20.08.08
It is one of the most instantly recognisable traffic signs - a hunched couple with a walking stick warning motorists to watch out for elderly pedestrians crossing the road.
But campaigners are calling for it to be scrapped because it is insulting to today's fitter, healthier senior citizens.
They say it should be replaced with either a new image or traffic-calming measures to safeguard elderly lives in a more politically correct way.
Help the Aged said showing pensioners with walking sticks was behind the times
'The sign portrays a small proportion of the older generation,' said Help the Aged senior policy officer Lizzy McLennan, 26. '
Very few older people are hunched over, with a walking stick.
'They are assuming everyone who is old looks like that, and they don't.'
Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern, said: 'The motivation behind these signs - to make drivers more careful of their speed in areas with residential care homes - is positive.
'However, in practice a reduced speed limit in such areas, as implemented in school districts, would be a more welcome way to achieve this.'
The current sign for 'elderly people crossing' was the winning entry in a children's competition held in 1981.
Barry Earnshaw, chief executive of Age Concern Lincoln, said: 'I am 65, so therefore I am considered an elderly person.
'The sign doesn't represent older people as they are today.
'There should be a generic sign that is representative of all vulnerable pedestrians, regardless of age.
'The objective is to make people slow down - there needn't be separate signs for different types of pedestrians. It is very outdated.'
The Taxpayers' Alliance described the objections as ridiculous and a waste of public money.
Campaign director Mark Wallace said: 'They should pay more attention to the real concerns of older people - rising taxes and soaring household bills.'
Regulations introduced in 2003 did away with the caption 'elderly people' underneath the road sign because it was ageist.
A spokesman for the Highways Agency said it would not be making further alterations.
'To change every sign in the country would cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds - and a change in the law.
'It's not a simple process, and I don't think most people would see it as a high priority for government spending.'
Can you create a better sign representing all vulnerable pedestrians? Email us at pictures@dailymail.co.uk
Reader views (10)
I am 72, fit, quick on my feet and totally messianic when it comes to stamping out ageism. However, this is NOT an ageist sign, IMO. If it was, I'd be the first to speak out against it.
This sign simply warns motorists to slow down because there may possibly be rather stooped people with canes walking slowly across the road. It does NOT imply that everyone over 65 walks slowly or uses a cane. Nor does it imply that there is any stigma attached to being stooped or walking with a cane or walking slowly.
- Marian Van Eyk Mccain, Hartland, Devon (UK), 23/08/2008 15:23
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This entire problem stems from the unbelievably large number of members of MBW (Morons Behind the Wheel). They need signs which are easily recognizable. The word "elderly" has three syllables, which is well beyond their level of comprehension.
If they ever require passing an intelligence test as part of the licensing process, we will have far fewer drivers on the road.
- Barry H., Indianapolis, IN USA, 23/08/2008 12:46
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Hello London,
When it comes to signage the worlds gone mad. The amount of new signs, and traffic lights going up around Scarborough must be costing a fortune. This sign showing two people bent over with one holding a walking stick tells the driver to beware of people who may be crossing the road slowly, if the elderly think that the sign is insulting then remove the sign no hardship. Talk about lunatics running the asylum get a life you have not got much time left.
- John L., Scarborough N, Yorks.U.K., 20/08/2008 23:21
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Since so many elderly seem as sprightly as kittens, according to comments, may I suggest a sign that shows a couple of OAPs leaping through the air like those dears we see depicted in signs? After all you don't want a cavorting OAP coming through your windshield - self-interest you see! A sure winner.
- Jin Smith, redbridge, 20/08/2008 14:34
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Perhaps 'School Crossing' ought to have an obese child waddling across the road clutching a knife and a kebab to reflect today's overweight and out-of-condition kiddies.
- Squiz, Islington, 20/08/2008 13:02
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It the couple on the sign were upright, the woman wouldn't fit in to the triangular shape.
I suppose they could replace the couple with a Werther's Original.
- George, London, 20/08/2008 12:36
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What a bunch of PC crap! If 99% of OAPs are so fit they obviously don't need a special sign, good for them. But there are a lot of bent over pensioners out there and I'm sure they have no problem.
'They should pay more attention to the real concerns of older people - rising taxes and soaring household bills.' - let me give you a clue, Campaign director Mark Wallace, that also is not only a concern for the older generation!
- Paul, London, 20/08/2008 09:06
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If OAPs (such as myself) are all bright, active and full of beans, as organisations like Age Concern are so keen to stress, we don't need any special signs warning motorists that we're in the vicinity. The old people who do need such signs are the ones who aren't so fast on their feet and have a bit of trouble getting around, in fact just like the ones depicted on the road signs. QED!
- John Rimmer, London SW, 20/08/2008 09:00
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If these elderly campaigners believe that picture depicts frail people and that the elderly are no longer frail but fit and healthy, then it makes no sense to warn motorists about fit and healthy people ahead.
I thought the whole point of this was that these signs warned about people who were frail and needed extra time to cross the roads.
A bit of double standards here I think.
- Tom, Watford UK, 20/08/2008 07:38
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I always thought that the woman pictured on the sign had her hand in the man's back pocket and she was trying to nick his wallet.
- Adam, Harrow, UK, 20/08/2008 06:59
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