ORIGINALLY, THE NO ENTRY sign on British roads had the words NO ENTRY written in bold capitals across a white panel in the middle of the red warning circle. Clear, easy to read, hard to ignore.
But any sign with writing on it demands to be read. And that meant drivers taking their eyes off the road, even if only for a second, to read the text. It was rationalised by the Worboys Report in 1963, and the text was removed – but the white panel that held it remains.
Where all modern road signs (most of them designed by the brilliant Margaret Calvert) are designed to be intuitive, this is now one of the few that need to be learnt. But once learnt, never forgotten.
