Recently, an abundance of new traffic signs on the renovated Kaarli Boulevard has made headlines.

Five years ago, there were 30,000 traffic signs across the capital, but today that number has risen to just under 50,000.

Järvan does not think there are too many and said there are three reasons why. The first is legal requirements, and the second is the weather.

"Since we have snowfall during the winter, it is not possible to mark everything solely with painted traffic management tools. The third very important aspect is traffic culture. In other words, all the locations with bollards or parking bans did not appear randomly. Often, it is traffic culture that necessitates them. Even if 99 out of 100 people behave reasonably, there is still a need to create a clarifying traffic management tool for that one individual," he told Thursday's "Aktuaane kaamera."

Some time ago, Tallinn took down direction signs to reduce visual pollution, but there are no plans to revise road signs. Järvan said they are reviewed on an ongoing basis.

"Often, there are situations where a traffic sign has been removed, and then a local resident becomes upset because there was clarity before, and now someone is disrupting a situation that has been established over the years," he told the show.

Emeritus Professor Dago Antov said one of the reasons for signs is so officials cannot be blamed for accidents.

"The other side of it is that traffic organizers often think that by placing traffic signs for specific situations, it becomes easier to clarify who violated a particular law if something happens," he said.

In both cases, it is assumed that an accident will happen, rather than creating a safe solution in the first place, AK said.

Antov said if there are too many traffic signs drivers cannot see them all.

Driving instructor Hannes Toomsalu agreed: "When a sign is put up, the assumption is that traffic will improve, safety will increase, and that everyone will follow it. If compliance with the sign is not monitored, or if it is installed in a way that drivers cannot see it, it achieves nothing and simply leads to a flood of signs."

Toomsalu said there are several places in Tallinn where signs have literally become overgrown with vegetation or where one sign has been installed in front of another. In some cases, it has become downright ridiculous, especially during roadwork.

"Coming into Tallinn from Keila, just before the city border, there is a 70 km/h zone, followed by a construction zone sign — though no roadwork was happening — indicating 50 km/h. Ten meters later, there was a sign for 30 km/h, then another 10 meters ahead a sign for 70 km/h, and 50 meters later the city border began, meaning a speed limit of 50 km/h. This is a flood of signs," he told "Aktuaalne kaamera."

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