◎ 俞智敏
The British government has declared war on the profusion of unnecessary road traffic signs, railings and advertising boards, saying they blight towns’ English character. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has written to local council leaders in England, calling on them to cut the number of unsightly signs and other "street clutter". Even traffic lights are in the firing line.
英國政府已向毫無存在必要的大量道路交通標誌、欄杆及廣告告示板宣戰，聲稱這些標誌破壞了各城鎮的英格蘭特色。社區事務大臣皮克斯與交通大臣漢蒙已致函給英格蘭各市議會領袖，呼籲他們減少難看標誌及其他「街道雜物」的數量。就連交通號誌燈也難逃被批評的命運。
Ministers want the public to inform local authorities of particularly bad examples of excess signage, to clean up the national landscape.
官員們希望民眾能通知地方當局哪裡有特別糟糕的標誌過多案例，以利清理全國景觀。
"Our streets are losing their English character," Pickles said. "We are being overrun by scruffy signs, bossy bollards, patchwork paving and railed-off roads -- wasting taxpayers’ money that could be better spent on fixing potholes or keeping council （local） tax down."
「我們的街道正失去英格蘭特色，」皮克斯說。「我們的城市被骯髒標語、霸道的分隔路柱、拼拼湊湊的路面及被圍欄圍住的道路所氾濫——浪費納稅人的金錢，而這些錢原本可用來修補道路坑洞，或降低地方議會稅金。」
Hammond said the abundance of so-called street furniture often makes towns resemble "scrapyards", confusing motorists and obstructing pedestrians.
漢蒙說，所謂的街頭家具充斥街道，讓城鎮看起來像「廢料回收場」，更讓汽車駕駛人感到迷惑，還妨礙行人行走。
For signs to be most effective, ministers say, they should be kept to a minimum. When busy Kensington High Street in central London was stripped of excess road furniture, for example, it helped reduce accidents by 47 percent.
官員們表示，如果想讓標誌達到有效目標，就應該精簡標誌數量。例如當位於倫敦市中心、交通繁忙的肯辛頓大街移除過度的街道家具後，就有助於降低交通意外發生次數達47％之多。
新聞辭典
blight：動詞，指使……枯萎，或破壞、摧毀，如A broken leg blighted her chances of winning the championship.（她贏得冠軍的機會被斷腿意外所破壞。）
be in/on the firing line：片語，指某人或某事遭到批評、攻擊或丟棄，如The judge found himself in the firing line from women’s groups after his controversial comments about sexual assault.（這名法官在發表有關性侵害的爭議性評語後，遭到女性組織的全面砲轟。）
street furniture：名詞，道路家具，指包括路燈、路標與電話亭、巴士候車亭等設置在路邊供大眾使用的設備。
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