Snipers target road signs

Never mind speeders or road hogs, now there is a new peril facing British motorists – signpost snipers. The RAC Foundation has warned of the growing phenomenon of gunmen firing at road signs at locations across Britain.

Officials there say that many of the shootings are "drive by", with the guns fired from a moving vehicle. Analysis of the damaged signs reveals that a high proportion of shots are fired from the near, or passenger, side of the car.

A dossier compiled for the motoring organisation has found evidence that illegally-held handguns, high velocity rifles and shotguns are all being used in the shootings.



Philip Gomm, from the RAC Foundation, warned that it was only a matter of time before a motorist or pedestrian was killed. "This isn't a motoring misdemeanour," he said. "This is serious criminality that endangers life and it has to be treated as such.

"The evidence is very disturbing. To learn that an irresponsible minority of drivers and their passengers, armed with guns, are touring around and shooting up signs is alarming and what is particularly worrying is the increasing use of high-velocity weapons.

"Taking potshots with shotguns is bad enough, but bullets from rifles can travel well over a mile – and still kill. The consequences of these projectiles hitting other motorists or indeed any member of the public hardly bears thinking about. It is only a matter of time until someone is badly hurt, or worse."