A local resident has come under fire for taking the speed limit into their own hands – quite literally.
An apparent disagreement over what the speed limit should be for drivers on a residential road in Adelaide took an unusual turn this week, with the unknown resident manually changing the 60km/h road sign to a 50km/h sign. And at a glance, you’d probably never notice.
Armed with a circular piece of plastic and a few screws, the 50 was recently placed over the 60 along Ambleside Road in Hahndorf, in the Adelaide Hills.
The state’s Transport Minister has described the resident’s ingenuity as “bizarre and illegal”.
“I know they’re well intentioned but we can’t have people doing that — it’s dangerous and inappropriate,” Tom Koutsantonis told 9News.
“My very strong advice is to stop.
“Ingenuity yep, tick. Illegality? Unfortunately, yes, that is a tick as well, and you can’t do that… And if you get caught, you can go to jail,” he warned.
Yahoo News has also reached out to South Australia’s Department of Infrastructure and Transport for comment.
A circular piece of plastic was simply screwed over the top of the existing sign. Source: 9News
Some residents didn’t even notice the speed sign change
Some residents admittedly didn’t notice the change, remarking at how good a job the imposter had done at making the sign look legitimate.
“I hadn’t actually noticed it, which is interesting,” local resident Susan Wooley told 9News. Another resident, Tony Gilligan, confirmed he “probably would have thought it had been done by professionals”.
There have reportedly been ongoing concerns about speeding along the road, and some in the community back the lowering of the speed limit, however the process in this instance didn’t appear to have the same support.
“I don’t think we’ve really got the right to change signs on a road. It should be done through the right channels,” Gilligan said.
The fake sign has since been removed.
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