Published: Thursday, 23rd April, 2009 7:00am

Signs of the times

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EVERY motorist ever caught like a rabbit in a snare amid the bewildering array of signs and direction arrows in Reading's arcane traffic system will applaud Hannah Rous this week.

That does not include the deliberate or persistent offender who wilfully speeds, flouts parking restrictions or otherwise displays complete contempt for the laws of the road.

We mean innocents from abroad, or in this case Tilehurst, who are unfamiliar with their surroundings, and while trying to control their vehicles find themselves confronted with a veritable smorgasbord of signs and instructions, multi-coloured buses looming at them from all directions, while their every move is closely observed by all-seeing traffic cameras.

In such circumstances it is easy to make a mistake; moving off when the wrong set of lights change, turning right instead of left, or even following one of those buses and passing a restriction sign before you realised it. The authorities are unforgiving and few, if any, excuses, hold water because might is right.

Many will remember the blustering quotes dripping with legalese employed to defend the confusingly worded parking signs in Castle Street which trapped scores of unsuspecting victims before council chiefs quietly backed down.

Ironically Traffic Penalty Tribunal adjudicator David Binns, ruling in Mrs Rous's favour, points out that the relevant bus lane rules have been incorrectly formulated under those for parking restrictions.

He wrote: "The motoring public has consistently been faced with a strict interpretation of traffic orders and regulations in Reading. The Council will presumably welcome a similar approach from the Adjudicators."

Maybe it's a time to temper motoring justice with mercy.