I must admit, now that I have a daughter (she's two) I tend to pay more attention to traffic signs. She and I will take walks in my neighborhood in Pittsfield and I'll pay extra attention to traffic activity, traffic signs, etc. You know how it is. Once you become a parent, your parental senses and senses of safety and danger become magnified.

What About Those "Watch" or "Slow" Children Signs? Do They Actually Work? 

One sign that I have seen on one of the streets in my neighborhood is a 'Watch Children" sign. You've probably seen them or something similar like "Slow: Children Playing" or "Slow: Kids at Play." I was wondering if those signs actually work. I have seen occasions where people would zoom up and down the street and pay no attention to the signs (good thing children weren't playing at those times). I myself have driven a bit too fast on Berkshire County streets where those signs exist prior to becoming a daddy.

via GIPHY

The Question Remains, Do the Signs Actually Work?

According to a 2018 article from Fatherly, these signs don't do anything except make parents feel better. Motorists typically don't slow down when they approach these signs. Here's some information from the article regarding why the signs aren't slowing motorists down.

The reasons are simple: they are either redundant (because drivers are more likely to see actual children at play rather than a sign telling them about the children) or drivers ignore them completely (because they never see any children at play on the street).

What matters, studies show, is traffic speed, not signs. Children are safer on streets with a lower speed limit, as the speed limit increases so does the danger for children.

You can read the entire article by going here. What do you say? From your experience, do the signs actually work? If not, what do you think would be a better system for getting motorists to slow down when children are present on neighborhood streets in the Berkshires and throughout the country?

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