Warning Signs: From Words to Symbols; Back to Words

[Brandon]

^^ I've seen a few of those new yellow "Reduced Speed Ahead" signs in Illinois, but mostly we still have the black on white "Reduced Speed Ahead" with the speed in a tab below the sign.  Personally, I'm a fan of Michigan's style of signage for this: "Reduced Speed XX Ahead" where XX is the speed.

[Hellfighter]

^^ I've seen a few of those new yellow "Reduced Speed Ahead" signs in Illinois, but mostly we still have the black on white "Reduced Speed Ahead" with the speed in a tab below the sign.  Personally, I'm a fan of Michigan's style of signage for this: "Reduced Speed XX Ahead" where XX is the speed.

They replaced those signs when MDOT changed to clearview to these...

[OracleUsr]

NC has gone a great deal to the Yellow diamond signs with the pic of the upcoming speed.

However, it is interesting to note that NC was, as far as I know, the only state that used REDUCE SPEED AHEAD rather than REDUCED SPEED AHEAD in the regulatory signs.

[roadfro]

^ The NC version actually made more sense on a regulatory sign.

[OracleUsr]

I remember in PA that when the speed drops, all you see are red warning diamonds on the new speed sign...

SC used to use SPEED ZONE AHEAD signs, at least coming into Clemson on US 123.

[hbelkins]

NC has gone a great deal to the Yellow diamond signs with the pic of the upcoming speed.

However, it is interesting to note that NC was, as far as I know, the only state that used REDUCE SPEED AHEAD rather than REDUCED SPEED AHEAD in the regulatory signs.

Didn't NC also use "Begin XX 1000 Ft. Ahead" signs as well?

[OracleUsr]

Actually, yes.  I forgot about that

[leifvanderwall]

I 'd rather have the symbols than the words. I noticed on the I-196 interchange with I-94 west, MDOT replaced the symbol lane merge signs to the worded version. I always felt empowered by the symbol signs because they did not make drivers look like idiots and they were simpler to make.

[US71]

I used to read ITE Journal in the U of A Library and they would occasionally have articles about new signs. I seem to recall one of them was the Pavement Ends. I used to photocopy the articles, so I'll have to see if I still have any of them.

I seem to recall one word sign got 86'd a while back: Limited Sight Distance

[shadyjay]

This is what Florida has gone to almost universally for speed limit reductions:

Yup, those are springing up all over Vermont.  I love 'em - a lot more useful than REDUCE SPEED AHEAD because at least you know what the change ahead will be.  A lot of Vermont roads go from 50 to 30 and all you have are those signs for warning.  I've seen them on the interstates, too.


In the 1980s when Connecticut was mass-replacing their signs, the signs indicating an onramp merging in with traffic changed, from all-text MERGING TRAFFIC, to the symbol common today.  Seeing all-text MERGING TRAFFIC signs are oddities today.

[US71]

This is what Florida has gone to almost universally for speed limit reductions:

Arkansas isn't using those yet, though I know Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Mississippi are for sure.

Correction: Arkansas IS using them, but on a limited basis

[yakra]

Originally, Exit 28 (formerly Exit 22) had Reduced Speed Ahead signs, then they were replaced with the new diamond warning signs. They weren't up too long, then MDOT replaced them with these. It seems a step backwards... but I assume the logic may be to resemble a SL sign and get drivers to slow down early in preparation for the actual SL change.
When I travel here, I just take my foot off the diesel pedal at the top of the hill and let the engine slow my car, so that I'm usually doing about 40 at the actual transition to the 35 MPH zone. With everyone else whizzing right past me, only to ease down to a natural driving speed (still well above posted) when entering the built-up area of US-1. You'll frequently see Brunswick PD cruisers waiting in the gas stations at the entrance to town waiting for these folks. The speed differential makes the US-1 south movement (a median U-turn ramp followed by a short weave across 2 fast-moving lanes) pretty hairy. IMO this jct should be reconfigured.

As for the "Merge" text plaques, well, MDOT cocks that up but good where 295 joins 95. The reality of the situation is just as the W4-3 implies: an Added Lane. 295 becomes the new rightmost lane of 95, and 95 remains 6 lanes all the way to NH.

[cu2010]

New York's got the new diamond ones, too.  To me, they're an improvement over the old "SPEED ZONE AHEAD" signs because the diamond ones tell me what the actual speed limit is going to be.

...of course, back home, they're a major improvement over the abrupt speed limit changes without warning. I drive down NY96 west of Thruway exit 42 to get home, and every time I hit Phelps, there's the 30mph zone...but with no warning that the speed limit reduces, and the sign cannot be seen from a distance too well because of the way the road is aligned.  Fortunately, I never got any tickets through there trying to suddenly slow down!

[averill]

In recent times, many of the symbol signs in the MUTCD have been eliminated, in favor of worded signs. The rational being that many drivers do not understand the symbols.
My opinion: Symbols are much better than words because they are instantly reckonizabe without reading, and are understood by those who do not speak english.


Some of the symbols that have been eliminated:
LANE ENDS
NARROW BRIDGE
PAVEMENT ENDS

Let's hear y'all's opinions...

Nobody bothered to put educational tabs under these signs.  That's why nobody learned what they meant.  You can still use them even though they are not in the MUTCD anymore as long as that word tab is under them.  This is good because you can now use other versions of these signs which were not allowed before, like the Canadian Pavement ends sign which is easier to see than the US equivalent.
Post Merge: December 27, 2011, 08:38:03 PM

Also, a few years ago (2003?), a yellow warning sign with the three arrows in a circle image for 'roundabout' was added to the USA's MUTCD.

The Millennium MUTCD used a roundabout symbol sign that had a solid O-shaped circle with four nubs protruding outside the circle at the horizontal and vertical sides. The sign code was W2-6, and I believe the symbol was introduced in this edition of the manual.

The 2003 MUTCD revised the W2-6 sign to the use current three-arrow circle, and introduced the "Traffic Circle" optional plaque (W16-12p). The "Roundabout" optional plaque (W16-17p) wasn't introduced until the recent 2009 MUTCD, after many jurisdictions had created similar plaques to better reflect the situation.

The latest revision added a uniform yellow warning sign image for 'reduced speed ahead', too.  Prior to that, it was a black-on-white text sign that MANY corrupt local jurisdictions made as small and innocuous as possible.

The "Reduced Speed Limit Ahead" symbol (W3-5) and "xx MPH SPEED ZONE AHEAD" text (W3-5a) warning signs were introduced in the 2003 MUTCD, not the recent 2009 version.  These signs replaced the "REDUCED SPEED AHEAD" (R2-5a) and "REDUCED SPEED xx" (R2-5b) regulatory signs--the rationale was informing road users of a reduced speed limit is not a regulation but rather a warning condition.  With both the old regulatory signs and new warning signs, a regular speed limit sign is required downstream of the sign.

This sign is basicaly the same sign Quebec invented years ago, but rheirs has a "maximum" sign in the diamond not "speed limit".

[roadfro]

Some of the symbols that have been eliminated:
LANE ENDS
NARROW BRIDGE
PAVEMENT ENDS

Nobody bothered to put educational tabs under these signs.  That's why nobody learned what they meant.  You can still use them even though they are not in the MUTCD anymore as long as that word tab is under them.  This is good because you can now use other versions of these signs which were not allowed before, like the Canadian Pavement ends sign which is easier to see than the US equivalent.

Actually, no these symbols cannot still be used (except for LANE ENDS, which is noted upthread as still being in wide use and having completely replaced its textual equivalent).

The national MUTCD stipulates that non-standard symbols cannot be used on signs unless it is part of an approved experimentation. Agencies are free to create signs using word messages for any situation not conveyed by standard symbol or word message signs.

[US71]

Actually, no these symbols cannot still be used (except for LANE ENDS, which is noted upthread as still being in wide use and having completely replaced its textual equivalent).

The national MUTCD stipulates that non-standard symbols cannot be used on signs unless it is part of an approved experimentation. Agencies are free to create signs using word messages for any situation not conveyed by standard symbol or word message signs.

Is there a deadline for removal or simply "when replaced" ? I've seen all of these still in use in various places, as well as 'LIMITED SIGHT DISTANCE" (though it is rare nowdays)

[Quillz]

I prefer symbols to words just from an aesthetic standpoint. But also because symbols are more universally understood than words.

[roadfro]

Actually, no these symbols cannot still be used (except for LANE ENDS, which is noted upthread as still being in wide use and having completely replaced its textual equivalent).

The national MUTCD stipulates that non-standard symbols cannot be used on signs unless it is part of an approved experimentation. Agencies are free to create signs using word messages for any situation not conveyed by standard symbol or word message signs.

Is there a deadline for removal or simply "when replaced" ? I've seen all of these still in use in various places, as well as 'LIMITED SIGHT DISTANCE" (though it is rare nowdays)

Removal of the PAVEMENT ENDS symbol sign was part of the 2000 MUTCD and had a compliance date of January 17, 2011.

Removal of the NARROW BRIDGE symbol sign was part of the 2003 MUTCD and currently has a compliance date of December 23, 2013. This is one of several MUTCD compliance dates that is proposed to be removed (based on the Notice of Proposed Amendments that went out on August 31, 2011) in favor of allowing the non-compliant sign to remain in place for the remainder of its useful service life.

[bassoon1986]

This is what Florida has gone to almost universally for speed limit reductions:

Louisiana has been switching over for a while too. Most of the interstates and bigger US highways for sure

[D-Dey65]

I thought I was going to have to start a whole new thread, but I found something on Park Sign Logos at the Old Car Manuals Project of all places:
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/GM%20Trucks%20and%20Vans/1971_Trucks-Vans/1971_Chevrolet_Camper_Booklet/1971%20Chevy%20Camper-25.html
This is a page from a brochure for 1971 Chevrolet RV packages.

[ftballfan]

^^ I've seen a few of those new yellow "Reduced Speed Ahead" signs in Illinois, but mostly we still have the black on white "Reduced Speed Ahead" with the speed in a tab below the sign.  Personally, I'm a fan of Michigan's style of signage for this: "Reduced Speed XX Ahead" where XX is the speed.

They replaced those signs when MDOT changed to clearview to these...

On a tangent, I-96 is 70 all the way to this sign, which is just outside of downtown Detroit.

http://goo.gl/maps/IZdL - This shows I-96's speed as 70 in the WB direction near this point, which is not much past the I-94 interchange.

[bugo]

This is what Florida has gone to almost universally for speed limit reductions:

Arkansas isn't using those yet, though I know Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Mississippi are for sure.

Correction: Arkansas IS using them, but on a limited basis

They are becoming more common.  There are several sets on US 71 in Polk County now.  I expect the whole state to be converted over within a few years.

[bugo]

When was the hospital yellow diamond sign cancelled?  This one is older than 1979, possibly much older.  The yellow diamond was replaced by a blue square sign with a big white H.  I don't remember ever seeing a hospital diamond in the wild.

[agentsteel53]

When was the hospital yellow diamond sign cancelled?  This one is older than 1979, possibly much older.  The yellow diamond was replaced by a blue square sign with a big white H.  I don't remember ever seeing a hospital diamond in the wild.

the large letter H on a blue square is an internationally recognized symbol - useful in the case of a non-English speaker requiring medical assistance. 

furthermore, it provides a positive "your hospital is here!" as opposed to the warning sign, which is at best an ambiguous "sick people might be crossing.  or something."

there is a HOSPITAL yellow diamond somewhere in Boston.  I think it's just off Route 9 near Brigham and Women's, and if I recall correctly, it has the old Massachusetts custom font.

[Kacie Jane]

To expand on what agentsteel said, I wouldn't say the blue and white H "replaced" the yellow warning sign.  They're two entirely different messsages.

The blue sign is meant to guide you to a hospital, and could be placed relatively far away from said hospital (i.e. at a freeway exit), and/or paired with arrows to guide you there.

The yellow sign is meant to warn you that a hospital is there, presumably so you could reduce your speed (high pedestrian traffic, ambulances or the like making sudden turns, etc.), and if it were still used, would only be located relatively close to the hospital, probably only on the street the hospital is actually on.