Friday, January 28, 2005
A 14-year-old has a passion for collecting road signs.
WARSAW, Ohio (AP) -- Christopher Belt isn't old enough to drive, but he pays more attention to road signs than most motorists.
The 14-year-old has a traffic light installed in his mother's driveway, and he has helped crews install signs in his hometown, about 57 miles northeast of Columbus.
His collection of hundreds of miniature street signs, 50 official signs, cones, barrels and traffic lights spills into his mother's yard. He buys the items at yard sales and orders them from listings in collector magazines. The Ohio Department of Transportation has also let him keep some signs he found and returned to the agency and has given him a road sign rule book.
"I think they're interesting. It's a hobby ... one of the things I'm good at," he said. "Traffic signals are my favorite thing."
Christopher began making road signs out of construction paper when he was 3 years old after his mother began teaching him about different signs while traveling.
Soon, family members began giving him real ones as gifts, and a hobby was born.
Christopher, who has used his rule book to set up signs for his grandfather's excavating business, wants to work for the state transportation department someday.