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| Photo by author |
A long time ago, a quiet revolution unfolded on Dutch streets. Traffic signs disappeared – they weren’t stolen, but officially removed and replaced by others that had exactly the same effect.
The new
Dutch Traffic Rules and Signs Regulation was introduced 35 years ago. The idea
was to get rid of certain prohibition signs and replace them with mandatory
ones. So, for example, the sign ‘no right turn’ vanished and was replaced by
‘mandatory straight ahead or left turn.’ The foundation for this was laid back
in 1968 by the Vienna Convention on Road Signs, aiming for globally (roughly)
the same traffic signs. You can guess why. Within Europe, uniformity is
okay-ish, though I wonder if foreigners understand our sign for a
narrowed or interrupted emergency lane, just to name one. While we, abroad,
have no trouble understanding a simple ‘no right turn.’
Then I
stumbled upon this sign in a foreign restaurant. On the trash bin, it says you
must not flush paper towels down the toilet. I’ve said it before: don’t tell me
what I can’t do – tell me what I should do. But there’s more: the placement of
the text is odd. The sign is on the spot where you’re supposed to bring your
trash. I’d expect it near the toilet bowl. Better yet, change the text to:
“Throw your paper towels in here.”
Since we’re
in the sanitary zone: in some places, you’re not even allowed to flush toilet
paper. You’re expected to toss used paper into an often open bin, because
otherwise the pipes might clog. Sometimes even I struggle with rules.
In my
field, we could also be more consistent with positive messaging. So, rather
“keep your password secret from everyone” than “don’t share your password.” Or:
“If you want this done, then do it this way” instead of “you’re not allowed to
do that.” The message isn’t just more positive – it immediately offers a
solution. People appreciate that. I’ll pay extra attention to this in the
coming weeks. And it’s not just my field: positive messaging helps achieve
goals everywhere.
Sadly, you
can’t apply this principle everywhere. You can’t just remove every ‘no parking’
sign and replace them with signs showing where you may park. And sometimes you
find truly odd signs. Drive along the A73 highway near Swalmen (Netherlands),
exit the tunnel, and there’s an emergency bay. There you’ll see a round white
sign with a red border, a black P in the middle, and a diagonal red slash. The
meaning is clear, but why on earth use a non-existent sign? Did the Dutch road
authority have such bad experiences with the regular ‘no parking’ sign that
they invented a fantasy version?
Communication
isn’t easy. Let’s all stay sharp and improve unclear, question-raising
messages. Information security is hard enough. (And yes, so is traffic.)
And in the big bad world…
- You’d never have guessed this exists.
- Apple pushes back against India’s mandate to preload a state-run security app on new phones.
- India withdraws the mandate; ‘thanks to the app’s broad acceptance.’
- Your employer might soon read your work text messages.
- Private users hardly need to worry about public Wi-Fi, QR codes, or charging cables, say eighty experts.
- Check for free if you’re part of a botnet.
- DigiD will definitely remain Dutch, they say. [DUTCH]
- The
Dutch Cybersecurity Outlook 2025 has been published. [DUTCH]
- Android will better protect you against phone scams.
