latest German motorways. For this reason we content ourselves with recommending that of the permanent motorway signs only the comparatively small route-number confirmatory sign should be sited on the central reservation.
37. In the paragraphs that follow we recommend that many of the signs should be sited at specific distances from the feature to which they relate . We are conscious, however, of the importance of siting large motorway signs with the interests of the surrounding landscape and of their own visibility very much in mind, and we consider that to help this a tolerance of a hundred yards either way should be allowed in implementing these recommendations. Where reflectorised signs are used great care is needed to ensure that no other street furniture intervenes between them and the direct beams of light from oncoming traffic at night, which would thus cast a shadow over the sign itself.
Content of Signs
Place-Names
38. We consider it essential that the number of place-names should be kept to a minimum on any one sign. On advance direction signs the number of names of places lying off the motorway should ideally be limited to two, one to the left and one to the right of the motorway. If necessary a third name could be added, but with more than three names in a word-group the legibility of the group is considerably reduced, and we should not like to see four names in a word-group save in the most exceptional circumstances. Similarly the number of places to be named which may be reached by driving on along the motorway should be kept to an absolute minimum. We recommend that the total number of place- names appearing on any one sign on the motorway should not exceed four or, exceptionally, five. We were pleased to learn that on most of the signs on the first section of the London-Yorkshire Motorway it has been possible to limit the number of names to three; this makes possible a sensible reduction in the size of the signs as compared with those on the Preston By-Pass, the largest of which show five names.
39. We have considered the problem of fitting unusually long names into a standard design of direction sign prepared for names of normal length. The comparatively long name 'Birmingham', for example, appears at almost every junction on the first section of the London-Yorkshire Motorway. On some at least of the signs some abbreviation of the name may be necessary. Great care needs to be taken with abbreviations, however; one of the main arguments in favour of lower case lettering is that, as we have said, it produces a clearer visual pattern, and this advantage might well be lost with an undiscriminating use of abbreviations. We consider it important that in any abbreviated form the distinguishing syllables of the name should be preserved intact. Thus we recommend 'Birm'ham ' for Birmingham, 'N'hampton' for Northampton, 'Wellingboro' for Wellingborough, 'L'ton Buzzard ' for Leighton Buzzard and 'Stony S'ford' for Stony Stratford (in order to distinguish it from Fenny Stratford) . We are aware that in some cases local feelings may possibly be offended by the use of an abbreviated form of the place-name, and we ourselves consider that in all cases the full name is ideally to be preferred and that abbreviations should be used only as a last resort; we hope that local bodies will recognise, however, that the interests of economy and speedy legibility by the motoring public may sometimes
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