Warning Signs: From Words to Symbols; Back to Words

[luokou]

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.

(HOSPITAL DIAMOND)

I thought I remembered seeing some in the wild next to Legacy Good Samaritan in NW Portland. Here's one on the corner of NW 22nd Ave and Northrup St:  http://goo.gl/maps/rzQj

[bugo]

This hospital was located on top of a hill.  The street (Pine Street) that passes in front of it goes down a big hill, then up one, then down again in a short distance.  The speed limit on this stretch is 20 MPH.

[US12]

I personal think the spelled out SCHOOL BUS STOP AHEAD  sign is better than the 2009 MUTCD edition




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[bugo]

I personal think the spelled out SCHOOL BUS STOP AHEAD  sign is better than the 2009 MUTCD edition




Uploaded with ImageShack.us

That sign is way too complex to read at 55-75 MPH.  It took me a while to figure out what it was the first time I saw one.

[realjd]

^^^
The whole point of symbol signs is that you don't read them. You may have had to figure it out the first time, but now you know what the symbol means.

[kphoger]

Yes, it means there might be a bus ahead with an owie on its forehead.

[txstateends]

Yes, it means there might be a bus ahead with an owie on its forehead.

Or it has an octagon-shaped paddle ready if you act up on the bus.

[apeman33]

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.

I've seen that in other states like GA and NC but not many here in TN.

The yellow "Speed Reduced Ahead" signs are now in Arizona, too; they've pretty much replaced the older black-on-white signs.

And Kansas, although the first installed ones had the number set in a vertically-stretched font and looked bad. Some places are also using a version of this for the speed limit in a school zone (the diamond in strong yellow-green and the sign inside the diamond also having the [SCHOOL] banner above it).

[Kacie Jane]

^^^
The whole point of symbol signs is that you don't read them. You may have had to figure it out the first time, but now you know what the symbol means.

Right, but if it takes you longer to figure it out the first time than it would to read "SCHOOL BUS STOP AHEAD", then it's already failed as a sign.

Also, bugo said "read", but perhaps he meant "recognize".  That sign is so complex and busy that even though I know what it means, I won't be able to recognize the symbol/sign until I'm right on top of it, by which point it's probably useless.

[Scott5114]

Not that it really matters. There won't be school buses stopped there 95% of the time.

[HighwayMaster]

The only state that I've seen use those is West Virginia.

[Scott5114]

WV actually invented them; those probably predate the 2009 MUTCD. In the run-up to the 2009 MUTCD, FHWA incorporated many warning signs used by individual states, reasoning that if a state has identified a need for a sign that the MUTCD lacked, it was better to adopt it to stave off possible proliferation of many different standards.

[Takumi]

I've seen some in rural Virginia. Old VA 38 has one or two like that.

[D-Dey65]

Regarding the blue "H" symbol signs for Hospitals, I'm pretty sure many of thos pre-date the symbolization of signs in the US. I still remember that on the Long Island Expressway at Little Neck Parkway there used to be blue H signs, but these had smaller text for the rest of the word "OSPITAL," and they used to have arrows and feature the name of the hospital in a smaller banner underneath.

[roadfro]

WV actually invented them; those probably predate the 2009 MUTCD. In the run-up to the 2009 MUTCD, FHWA incorporated many warning signs used by individual states, reasoning that if a state has identified a need for a sign that the MUTCD lacked, it was better to adopt it to stave off possible proliferation of many different standards.

Much of the 2009 MUTCD sign revisions were derived from a FHWA sign synthesis study, which looked at various signs (warning, regulatory, etc.) in use by all the states as well as Canada and Mexico. The purpose was to see whether unified sign standards might be needed where the national MUTCD lacked one for a particular use. Part of this was to stave off proliferation of non-standard symbol signs; it was also to unify wording of many types of text-only messages.

WV's "bus stop ahead" symbol sign was one of these where the symbol was adopted (slightly modified to use the school crossing symbol children instead of the original children design used by WV). Nevada designs were used for many of the new animal warning signs (bighorn sheep as a particular example), as well as the daytime headlight series of regulatory text signs. A standard symbol was developed amongst the many out there for "falling rocks". The list goes on...

[vdeane]

The only state that I've seen use those is West Virginia.

NY uses them as well, at least region 7 does.

[Kacie Jane]

I've seen one in Washington... I apologize for my inability to remember where.

[thenetwork]

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.

And to extend the Yellow HOSPITAL diamond issue further, I remember seeing some yellow diamonds in the past which read:

      QUIET
  HOSPITAL
      ZONE

Definitely, a specific message you cannot really convey in a blue square.

[agentsteel53]

And to extend the Yellow HOSPITAL diamond issue further, I remember seeing some yellow diamonds in the past which read:

      QUIET
  HOSPITAL
      ZONE

Definitely, a specific message you cannot really convey in a blue square.

I have heard a rumor that there is a hospital in Long Beach in front of which there is a sign like that... except it is a white diamond with red text, dating back to 1919!

[agentsteel53]

WV actually invented them; those probably predate the 2009 MUTCD. In the run-up to the 2009 MUTCD, FHWA incorporated many warning signs used by individual states, reasoning that if a state has identified a need for a sign that the MUTCD lacked, it was better to adopt it to stave off possible proliferation of many different standards.

I think they've been doing this for years.  it would be interesting to figure out how many designs were come up with by the feds out of whole cloth, as I think the number is very small.  the 1970 spec route shields, for example, are a 1965 Pennsylvania design. 

the idea of using green signs on interstates was, I think, the result of a federal research project, but it was only a choice between black, green, and blue, each of which was being used by at least one state authority.

[codyg1985]

The only state that I've seen use those is West Virginia.

I saw an installation in Tennessee over the weekend. Arkansas also has them (I think).

[codyg1985]

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.

And to extend the Yellow HOSPITAL diamond issue further, I remember seeing some yellow diamonds in the past which read:

       QUIET
   HOSPITAL
       ZONE

Definitely, a specific message you cannot really convey in a blue square.

I have seen those too. I wonder if it mean that you are about to enter a hospital area in which everyone that works there has to be quiet at all times? 

[kphoger]

And to extend the Yellow HOSPITAL diamond issue further, I remember seeing some yellow diamonds in the past which read:

       QUIET
   HOSPITAL
       ZONE

Definitely, a specific message you cannot really convey in a blue square.

I have heard a rumor that there is a hospital in Long Beach in front of which there is a sign like that... except it is a white diamond with red text, dating back to 1919!

I've seen a wooden red-on-white hospital sign somewhere, but I can't remember for sure where it was.  I'm thinking Eldorado, Illinois, but I could be way off.

[Jim]

I know something similar was discussed recently, but I can't find the thread.  This one seems like a reasonable place to post this.  It's a standard symbolic "stop ahead" mounted sideways to indicate that the stop sign is just around a tight curve.  This is at the junction of MA 57 West/MA 183 North with MA 23 in Monterey.  April 28, 2012.



Here's a link to a closer view showing "Mass. D.P.W." sideways on the left side.  http://www.teresco.org/pics/signs/20120428/stopright-close.jpg

[HighwayMaster]

Looks like this one:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=3528.msg148719#msg148719