Traffic campaigner puts up 'Bears crossing' signs to get drivers to slow down after three crashes outside her house
Penny Ballinger, from Drybrook, Forest of Dean, erected the signs after three car crashes took place outside her home.
- Do YOU have a story? Email katherine.lawton@dailymail.co.uk
By KATHERINE LAWTON, NEWS REPORTER
Published: 17:58 GMT, 7 January 2026 | Updated: 11:48 GMT, 8 January 2026
A traffic campaigner has put up fake road signs warning of bear crossings to get drivers to slow down near her house.
Penny Ballinger, from Drybrook, Forest of Dean, erected the signs after three car crashes took place outside her home.
The collisions are said to have damaged her telegraph pole, left her without internet and ruined her garden wall.
Ms Ballinger claimed motorists drive too fast on the route outside her house, and said she installed the bear signs in a bid to make them 'think about what they're doing'.
'The route down the hill is where people take their kids to school… we're very lucky there hasn't been a fatal accident,' she told the BBC.
Ms Ballinger has reportedly asked Gloucestershire County Council to reduce the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph in her area.
However, she said they are yet to act on the issue and as things stand, drivers can still travel at 40mph.
Penny Ballinger (pictured) has put up fake road signs to stop motorists driving so fast outside her house
Ms Ballinger stands next to one of the road signs she installed in a bid to slow drivers down
Ms Ballinger has reportedly asked Gloucestershire County Council to reduce the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph in her area. Ms Ballinger with one of the road signs and a fake bear by the side of the road
'They've actually sort of very much put us off by saying we can't reduce the speed limit, that would cost £15,000,' she said.
It is not the first time someone has taken matters into their own hands by putting up fake road signs within the UK.
In 2024, hundreds of motorists were hit with fines when an 'unauthorised third party' erected a 50mph sign, leading drivers to excel the actual speed limit.
The fake speed sign on the A20 in Sidcup, south-east London, showed that motorists could travel up to 50mph, but the correct speed limit was in fact 40mph.
TfL had introduced the temporary 40mph speed limit out of safety concerns due to ongoing surface water flooding which posed a 'serious risk to road users'.
The inaccurate sign left motorists fuming after discovering they were slapped with speeding fines and points on their licenses, unaware that the sign was fake and that they were driving over the limit.