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Speed camera sign to warn drivers isn't actually a photo of a side-on camera

Speed camera sign to warn drivers isn't actually a photo of a side-on camera

It turns out we've been looking at the speed camera sign wrong all this time

People are just now realising that the iconic road sign warning motorists that there's a speed camera up ahead might not depict what they thought it did.

We all know what the sign looks like, Britain's drivers have been filled with dread by them countless times, but many people are now wondering if they've been mistaken about what's actually on there.

Not to get all nerdy about road sign designs but in the UK, we have an absolutely stunning set which do a marvellous job of communicating information at just a glance.

Even if the sign looks a bit weird, the one telling you there's roadworks up ahead definitely looks like a guy trying to open an umbrella, but you do know what they actually mean with just one look, which gives your eyes more time to stay on the road.

Nobody could forget the speed camera sign, though the ones in some of the busiest areas still manage to catch out thousands of drivers, but people are only just realising they might not actually be as they appeared.

Plenty (myself included) assumed that the sign depicted an old fashioned camera pointing off to the right, but that might not be correct at all.

It turns out that we've been looking at the speed camera sign we all know and dread wrong.
Twitter/@FeyeraBender

More specifically, plenty thought that the speed camera sign looked like an old-timey bellows camera where you can move the lens back and forth manually.

Now it's been pointed out on Twitter that the sign possibly depicts a much more recent speed camera with two lenses pointing directly at you.

That thing sticking off to the side would actually just be the camera's mounting, and seen from this new perspective, it does actually look like some designs of speed cameras.

Now it's been pointed out on social media, people are really struggling to come to terms with this new idea of what the speed camera really is.

One person said they had been 'living a lie' while another said they hated the change as the sign was 'so mean looking to me suddenly'.

Someone else simply said 'oh my god'.

Full disclosure, I also thought this and I've only just realised it doesn't make that much sense.
Twitter/@FeyeraBender

However, others disagreed with the idea that the camera wasn't an old-timey but an instantly recognisable design.

One said they would 'carry on believing the Victorian bellows theory' and another insisted that the old fashioned design was the artist's intention as 'everyone knows exactly what it represents'.

More said they were simply 'not having this' and refused to see the sign as anything other than what most had always assumed it to be.

Speed cameras themselves are pretty unpopular features of the road, though apparently they do work pretty well as even fake ones have been shown to help slow down traffic.

There's also a common myth that they have to be visible by law, which has since been debunked as untrue, so if you see the sign then slow down instead of trying to spot the camera.

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock

Topics: UK News, Cars, News