AARoads Forum

National Boards => General Highway Talk => Traffic Control => Topic started by: bugo on July 31, 2012, 05:54:26 PM

Title: Was the Hospital diamond ever in the MUTCD?
Post by: bugo on July 31, 2012, 05:54:26 PM
This sign dates from the '70s or earlier.  Was it actually in any MUTCD?  It was posted by the City of Mena, Arkansas.

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm6.staticflickr.com%2F5064%2F5618462264_ca8a46da74_z.jpg&hash=c7e1e20c21d55beb22a554790c922c88fed0cca5)
Title: Re: Was the Hospital diamond ever in the MUTCD?
Post by: mjb2002 on August 04, 2012, 11:10:08 AM
Quote from: bugo on July 31, 2012, 05:54:26 PM
This sign dates from the '70s or earlier.  Was it actually in any MUTCD?  It was posted by the City of Mena, Arkansas.

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm6.staticflickr.com%2F5064%2F5618462264_ca8a46da74_z.jpg&hash=c7e1e20c21d55beb22a554790c922c88fed0cca5)

It probably was in the pre-1988 MUTCDs, but I have always known Hospital signs to be a blue perfect square, with an H in the middle.
Title: Re: Was the Hospital diamond ever in the MUTCD?
Post by: PurdueBill on August 04, 2012, 01:38:48 PM
The blue H would serve a different purpose (trailblazer for route/direction to hospital) versus the diamond though (watch out for ambulances, runaway wheelchairs, pedestrians whose anesthesia hasn't totally worn off yet, etc.).
Title: Re: Was the Hospital diamond ever in the MUTCD?
Post by: bugo on September 16, 2013, 02:09:52 PM
I'm unzombifying this thread.  Deal with it.

Does anybody else have any further information on the hospital sign?

Also, was this sign ever commonplace?  Was it in the MUTCD?

(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2703/4278851587_452c1df396_z.jpg)
Title: Re: Was the Hospital diamond ever in the MUTCD?
Post by: mass_citizen on September 16, 2013, 04:00:31 PM
Quote from: bugo on September 16, 2013, 02:09:52 PM
I'm unzombifying this thread.  Deal with it.

Does anybody else have any further information on the hospital sign?

Also, was this sign ever commonplace?  Was it in the MUTCD?

(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2703/4278851587_452c1df396_z.jpg)

I still occasionally see the hospital warning sign in advance of hospital entrances. I am not sure about the slow sign but I have seen it or something similar occasionally.
Title: Re: Was the Hospital diamond ever in the MUTCD?
Post by: Alps on September 16, 2013, 09:45:06 PM
Quote from: bugo on September 16, 2013, 02:09:52 PM
I'm unzombifying this thread.  Deal with it.

Does anybody else have any further information on the hospital sign?

Also, was this sign ever commonplace?  Was it in the MUTCD?

(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2703/4278851587_452c1df396_z.jpg)
Definitely was not in the MUTCD, but older MUTCDs had many fewer warning signs than the current version. SLOW in a diamond probably was, and then the 15 MPH plaque beneath it, but the MUTCD also didn't have the kind of Federal enforcement it does now, so states created their own signs by and large.
Title: Re: Was the Hospital diamond ever in the MUTCD?
Post by: J N Winkler on September 18, 2013, 11:11:39 AM
To answer Bugo's question, narrowly framed as "HOSPITAL" sign ever in MUTCD or equivalent national traffic control manual:

*  1929--Yes, as square "HOSPITAL ZONE" sign (probably used as a standalone sign); "CHURCH" is included too, also as a square sign

*  1930--No

*  1935--Yes, but only as a supplementary plate (probably used with the "SAFETY ZONE" diamond)

*  1961--No

*  1971--No

*  1978--No

*  1988--No

For purposes of this exercise, "in the MUTCD" has been taken to mean "diagrammed in the manual as a warning sign with the word 'HOSPITAL,'" regardless of whether the relevant edition has language supporting the use of warning signs that are not diagrammed but have custom text-only legends (a provision included in the most recent three editions of the MUTCD and probably in all MUTCDs or equivalent documents from the very beginning).  I didn't check the 1927, 1942, 1948, or 1952 editions.
Title: Re: Was the Hospital diamond ever in the MUTCD?
Post by: bugo on September 18, 2013, 09:29:48 PM
It is likely a very rare sign these days.