The inhabitants of Lindau shouldn’t be described as bourgeois, even if you could forgive them, especially in the summer months, if they shouldn’t be in full control of their senses anymore because of the masses of tourists that invade the island and, let’s say: Sunbeams in sacks into the carry town hall. On the contrary, the residents of Lindau are – apart from the aforementioned hordes of tourists – downright lucky: who doesn’t like to live near the shore of Lake Constance, with a view of the mountains and their feet in the water? So they are by no means sign citizens, but the people of Lindau already live in a forest of signs, which is now the town hall, which wants to remedy the situation: This week, the city councilors have to decide how the forest of traffic signs in Lindau can be thinned out.
And what is sometimes shown as a picture at the traffic junctions can definitely be described as a forest of signs: According to the city count, there are more than 100 brown-white and black-white signs there, pointing to numerous destinations. There are also privately hung signs that are supposed to point the way to companies. It is well known that too many roadside signs confuse rather than guide the road user. You can’t read the seven hotel signs placed one below the other so quickly that at best you don’t drive past them, but at worst you crash into the car of the person in front, distracted. The city of Lindau speaks of “excessive demands to acceptance problems when observing regulations”. Traffic jams caused by drivers who couldn’t find any signposts to public parking spaces due to the sheer number of signs prove the confusion.
So now the brown and white tourist information signs are being thinned out, only those to major attractions should remain. Hotels and restaurants are not included, but campsites can continue to advertise themselves because they are often visited spontaneously. But the black and white inner-city signposts that point to districts are also being questioned. Non-official signs from companies have to go anyway. City officials expect 200 signs to be taken down by next spring if city councilors agree. After an accident, drivers will no longer be able to avoid blaming their navigation system, which required their undivided attention.