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Frowning signs taken for cameras
Council chiefs emphasis the signs are not speed cameras
Speeding motorists are wrecking road signs that frown at them if they go too fast, in the mistaken belief they are speed cameras, council bosses claim.
The so-called “Smiling Sids” were installed on some roads on Teesside as part of a pilot project.But for the third time in a matter of months, devices have been vandalised, forcing Redcar and Cleveland Council to replace them at £2,000 a time.
The council said the signs are not used to issue fines and do not have cameras.
The authority’s road safety officer Mike Hall said: “People think that the Smiley Sids are a speed camera when they are not.
Smashing panels
“It is there merely as a safety and educational tool and they have been shown to reduce the number of road accidents.
“We only put these devices where local people ask for them.
“We have lost a few of these now, the latest in Eston and we just can’t understand why these should be vandalised.
“People are climbing up them and smashing the back panels. We would appeal for help in trying to track these people down.”
Mr Hall said the devices would continue to be replaced.
Leaflets are now being distributed to homes and schools in an effort to highlight the problem and the safety benefits of the devices.
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