I mentioned these a few months ago, but I saw something this week that made me smile.
Reference points – when established BY the driver FOR the driver – can be very useful. In fact, everyone uses them one way or another no matter how much they might try to deny it.
But I had to laugh the other day when I saw this on someone’s fence when I was on my way to pick a pupil up for a lesson.
From what I can gather, the lady’s husband put it there so that she doesn’t reverse into the garage when she parks on their driveway.
On the one hand, it is a good idea. But it could fail when you consider what might happen if the driver were to drive into her driveway forwards. It would need another sign to cover that eventuality.
And it still doesn’t allow for the different seating positions of a 5’ female compared with a 6’ 3” man, or the variation that would be introduced by distance from the fence.
As long as the stopping position wasn’t right up to the garage door then they’d probably get away with it, but it does illustrate the dangers of over-egging the reference point concept.
To be honest, all the husband had to do was put a small mark on the fence and say “don’t go further back than this”. But I have to admire his more literary approach to the situation.