Are House Signs Really That Important?
Like most things in everyday life, we usually take house signs for granted and rarely give them a second thought.
Somewhat perversely we only notice them when they are not there.
I'm sure we have all been in that situation where we're slowly driving down a street trying to find an address...
you're trying to keep one eye on the road and the other on the house numbers but many of the houses do not appear to have one.
You get more and more frustrated and eventually have to stop and knock on a door or two to ask someone if they know where the address that you're looking for is.
In most circumstances it's just annoying that a homeowner can't be bothered to display a number on their property but think how frustrating it must be for members of the police, fire or ambulance services when responding to a life-threatening situation.
Nowadays the use of satellite navigation does help getting them quickly to the right area but vital minutes can still be lost driving up and down a street trying to find the correct location.
In the countryside, where a large area can be covered by a single postcode, sat-navs cannot always be relied on to supply accurate door to door directions so clearly displayed signs are even more important.
Some residents in rural communities may think that there isn't a great need to show the number or name of their home because everyone in the area knows where they live.
However they don't take into account that the emergency services are now far more centralised than ever before.
Therefore the people responding to their call for assistance may not be familiar with the area and may be being given directions by someone in a control room which is miles away in a different county.
Whether you live in a town or the countryside any house sign is better than none at all.
However, it's only common sense that you should have a house name or number displayed in such a way that someone can see it clearly from the road from whichever direction they may be approaching.
And get your neighbours and local businesses to do the same - it is far easier to find an address when following a logical sequence of numbers.
A clearly displayed house sign could make the difference between life and death in an emergency.
We all hope the worst never happens, but if it does let's be sure that those we call out to help don't waste precious time trying to locate us.
Somewhat perversely we only notice them when they are not there.
I'm sure we have all been in that situation where we're slowly driving down a street trying to find an address...
you're trying to keep one eye on the road and the other on the house numbers but many of the houses do not appear to have one.
You get more and more frustrated and eventually have to stop and knock on a door or two to ask someone if they know where the address that you're looking for is.
In most circumstances it's just annoying that a homeowner can't be bothered to display a number on their property but think how frustrating it must be for members of the police, fire or ambulance services when responding to a life-threatening situation.
Nowadays the use of satellite navigation does help getting them quickly to the right area but vital minutes can still be lost driving up and down a street trying to find the correct location.
In the countryside, where a large area can be covered by a single postcode, sat-navs cannot always be relied on to supply accurate door to door directions so clearly displayed signs are even more important.
Some residents in rural communities may think that there isn't a great need to show the number or name of their home because everyone in the area knows where they live.
However they don't take into account that the emergency services are now far more centralised than ever before.
Therefore the people responding to their call for assistance may not be familiar with the area and may be being given directions by someone in a control room which is miles away in a different county.
Whether you live in a town or the countryside any house sign is better than none at all.
However, it's only common sense that you should have a house name or number displayed in such a way that someone can see it clearly from the road from whichever direction they may be approaching.
And get your neighbours and local businesses to do the same - it is far easier to find an address when following a logical sequence of numbers.
A clearly displayed house sign could make the difference between life and death in an emergency.
We all hope the worst never happens, but if it does let's be sure that those we call out to help don't waste precious time trying to locate us.
