A village called 'unsafe road'
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325696)
Rockingham, Australia
March 18, 2017 6:45pm CST
Fleur (@Fleura) posted about her volunteer work 'rescuing' toads and getting them safely across roads and into nearby wetlands and ponds. Then @MALUSE commented that there are signs in her area in Germany warning motorists of the likelihood of toads on the roads.
This reminded me of the signs we saw in Germany. Each village would have its name on a signpost as you entered the village. Sometimes it seemed one village had hardly ended before another sign appeared announcing the name of the next one.
However on one occasion I was quite sure I'd seen the same sign on at least two villages. When the sign appeared a third time, I had an 'aha' moment and consulted my trusty dictionary – which was when I discovered the sign I thought was the name of a village was actually proclaiming that there was something wrong with the road. Oh well, you live and learn!
The photo is of a sign we saw in the south of Germany, showing a speed limit for army tanks.
23 people like this
27 responses
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
19 Mar 17
We have signs warning if turtles, snakes, ducks and other random creatures crossing the road.
4 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
19 Mar 17
@Asylum ....to prove to the chicken that it could be done. 
3 people like this
@allknowing (130066)
• India
19 Mar 17
I wish there were villages here named' keep farming' as more and more youngsters are leaving the shores seeking greener pastures elsewhere but browning their own.
3 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
19 Mar 17
lol Well that is the way we learned some of our German too, not on the town names but other things that should have been quite obvious,
3 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
19 Mar 17
Tanks! That's pretty funny. Must be a base nearby.
3 people like this
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
19 Mar 17
When we go driving we like to point out some of the signs of towns and villages and proclaim how it's so amazing we got to where we are in such a short time. For instance, although we live in NY, it only takes us an hour to get to Mexico. We've also recently been to Greece. I drive to Liverpool everyday, I work there actually.. and don't even need a Visa. When driving to Hershey Park we passed through Lebanon..
We also like to proclaim how none of these places are really as spectacular as we thought they'd be! Greece is tiny, there's nothing much in Mexico, Lebanon had a lot of Amish.
2 people like this
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
19 Mar 17
@JudyEv I'm sure many of ours have come from England.. we actually have a "New England"! The settlers that named some of these towns weren't really very inventive!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Mar 17
Many of our place names come for the UK and I know some are the same as US names but maybe they've both come from the English - Melbourne for instance.
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Mar 17
@katsmeow1213 You have a New Hampshire as well. We have Victoria after Queen Victoria, and probably Queensland for the same reason.
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Mar 17
I think it meant only one vehicle on the bridge at a time. I was surprised to see the picture of the tank on the sign.
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
19 Mar 17
bwahahaha, the name of the towns are "Somthinwrungwifdaroad' which kinda looks German
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
19 Mar 17
You'll usually find the sign with the tank near a bridge or overpass - it has to do with the weight and width of military wheeled or tracked vehicle that the bridge will support.
. . .Military Load Classification(MLC)/Militaerische Lastenklasse for tracked and non-tracked vehicles. The MLC specifies the safe amount of load a surface can withstand.
2 people like this
@Fleura (29126)
• United Kingdom
19 Mar 17
It's a bit worrying that tanks are allowed to go faster than other vehicles. I would get off that road as quick as I could.
On a similar note I remember an acquaintance telling me she was puzzled as to why all the beaches in Wales seemed to have the same name. Wales has bilingual road signs everywhere so every beach is indicated by a sign saying 'Traeth' and 'Beach' but she thought 'Traeth Beach' was the name.
2 people like this
@stapllotik (1933)
• India
19 Mar 17
We have signs of tiger and leopard on our roads
2 people like this
@youless (112108)
• Guangzhou, China
19 Mar 17
This sign is just so odd and we can't see it in usual. Perhaps this village has a long history and the tanks were available there during World War II. After all, not all the roads are qualified with working for tanks. The road quality must be super good there
2 people like this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
19 Mar 17
I remember that you found the speed limit for army tanks funny but I've forgotten why. It's certainly better that a tank slows down on a bridge than destroy it crossing it at high speed, isn't it?
I once saved two American tourists in the centre of Heidelberg who couldn't find the name of the street where they were standing on their map. The 'name' of the street was Einbahnstraße = 'one-way street'.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Mar 17
I was just surprised that tanks are allowed to go faster than trucks. We've been 'saved' a time or two in towns too being lucky enough to find a friendly person with some command of English.
@diosabella (4789)
•
19 Mar 17
Better move like a snail then! Just to be in the safe side. I think youl get to the next town like never in that speed. 
I think youl get to the next town like never in that speed. 2 people like this
