Thank you - for driving safely

I have written about road signs before, the crazy explosion of flashing speed limits signs, but the more I drive the more I see how overcrowded our roads are with useless signs.

One that seems totally pointless is the "thank you for driving safely" or "please drive safely" through our village. I love that I have been able to find the image that heads this blog entry. What is the point, do the people who ask for these signs actually think they make a difference to the speed or manner of driving. Why would they, all they do is take your mind of the road for longer than a place name alone, as you can not help yourself reading the whole sign.

Why don't we see "please drive like a total twit through our town" signs, maybe with "sponsored by Claims Direct" or "sponsored by community speedwatch". And while we are about it I have a couple more suggestions "thank you for not crashing on this motorway" or "thank you for not rubbernecking this crash and causing a 20 mile tailback". No, that would be silly, yet someone agrees to the existing signs thinking they are not in the least silly and will actually have some effect on motorists.

Who is actually saying thank you to me as I drive past these signs, is it the local people, the council, the highway authority, or more likely the company making a killing manufacturing the sign.
We are often thanked by inanimate objects, computer screens, automatic payment devices and a multitude of do this don't do that notices, what is the point, to my mind a thank you is something that one person expresses to another not something that can be conveyed to anyone who reads it, and certainly not from an electrical device.

Which brings me to a sales assistant who was instructed by her manager not to say thank you to customers, "It says thank you on the till receipt" she was told.

Well that's the lot for this time - thank you.