The blunt arrow

[Scott5114]

This is probably going to be one of those things that only bothers me, but...


The arrow on the left (slightly perspective-corrected) is the standard Type A arrow. The one on the right is the "blunt arrow", which Oklahoma DOT seems to be using with increasing frequency. I've seen the exact same glyph on dozens of panels in the Oklahoma City area.

My questions are 1) where did this glyph come from? Does it arise naturally from a misinterpretation of the standard Type A arrow? Did someone at ODOT design it from scratch? 2) does it have any reason to exist? It seems like it would be less effective than the standard arrow because the arrowhead is smaller. 3) does this appear anywhere outside of Oklahoma?

[myosh_tino]

Your "blunt" arrow appears to put a Type-B arrowhead on a Type-A shaft.


Type-A on the left, Type-B on the right.

While I have not seen that particular arrow (Type-B arrowhead, Type-A shaft), some newer Caltrans signs are sporting a Type-A arrow with a short shaft instead of a Type-B arrow...

[Scott5114]

It's still not quite the same, though–notice how the official arrows have a considerably sharper point than the blunt arrow does.

[Zeffy]

Personally, I have a hatred for down arrows like this, which I can't come up with a clever name for: