Research carried out by TRL has revealed that a large proportion of motorists in Scotland consider bilingual road signs to be utterly ‘useless’.
Commissioned by Transport Scotland, the research drew comparisons between nine Gaelic-English road signs and eleven English-only road signs.
A sample of tourists visiting Scotland were asked questions about the signs. Approximately half admitted that they were unable to understand the information displayed on bilingual road signs. 40 per cent of respondents claimed that the dual-language signs distracted their attention from the road, while one in five had been sent in the wrong direction.
Worryingly, six per cent of respondents said that the bilingual signs had nearly caused them to crash. Are Gaelic-English signs really that dangerous?
A councillor for Landward Caithness, Willie Mackay, expressed his concern over the findings. The councillor is worried that the Scottish Government’s investment in bilingual road signs could do more harm than good, especially in terms of road safety.
The SNP has promised to spend £2 million on additional Gaelic-English road signs.
Here at The Sussex Sign Company, we believe that design, layout and placement are especially important factors to consider when creating and installing bilingual signage.