How Road Signs Got Their Shapes - Cheddar Explains
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
- Today we take road signs for granted. We see these shapes and colors and understand their meaning, even without words. And that was the intention. There’s a forgotten science to the shapes of our signs.
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Interviewer: What work experience do you have?
Me: I was a stop sign
> 1:56
It's surprising the video did not mention the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), a document that standardizes traffic signs, road markings, and signals for roads in the United States. The MUTCD sets the standards for what the shapes mean today along with color, sizing, and other attributes. It is far from a forgotten science, and research still actively goes into traffic control devices (like signs) and how to improve them so drivers can consistently understand them. Section 2A.09 of the MUTCD specifies the current standards for roadway shapes, if you're interested in looking at them. Given that this video is pretty much about US signage, you would think they would include the governing manual that standardizes sign shape today.
True i agree with you but I use the MUTCD for work. The manual only says what to use and when, not the history or how we got to use it. I like how this channel shines a little light on that.
Not to mention that some states have written their own MUTCDs as well.
Might've been nice to mention the Vienna convention on road signs too
@@AVeryRandomPerson And that some fall back on Federal MUTCD where others do something slightly differently which creates its own headaches, especially from one city to another or county to country etc.
@@linguistisch Yep. The mess even extends to dimensions of signs and placement of numbers on shields. California even uses the old US Highway shield, and many states add their name above the Interstate number
never thought id be interested in signs
Covid
@J Gpfft i like what you did there
Yield sign is triangular so you could know what sign it is from it's backside.
Especially important for the Stop and the Yield signs, but of which have a unique shape.
Mostly because to avoid confusion when the sign is obscured by snow or other dirt.
This video only applies to the US -- signs in Europe are different. Also, given the plethora of languages across Europe, then traffic signs in Europe can't use words, the shape, colour and iconography must convey all the information. There is an actual standard for this, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Signs_and_Signals, used by almost all countries, except the US.
Except, 🛑stops signs which were copied directly from the United States of America.
Also, I prefer this one as it compares usage between European countries:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_signs
@@sion8 stop signs not used nearly as much in europe where yield signs are much more common
@@jamesquaine6264
Yes, I'm aware. However, the design used for stop signs everywhere for whatever reason was copied from the U.S. designed one.
As somebody who has driven in both Germany and the USA - it's not too hard to get used to European signs, one of the biggest differences is really that Europe actually marks priority roads, while the USA does not. Europeans coming to the USA might be a little confused by the lack of markings for priority roads. Other than that, both types of signs do their jobs. I think the biggest adjustment coming back to the USA was remembering we could right turn on red.
not Australia, why except?
Well in Europe most signs don't have letters on it... So we know what the shapes mean :D
That's because Europe speaks a hodgepodge of languages.
Also in Europe the only use of a square sign rotated by 45° is to mark priority roads.
It depends on the country, I live in the UK and our road signs are more similar to Japan, Australia or New Zealand than with other European countries.
@@TheLiamster UK is the oddball...
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_signs
@@TheLiamster en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_signs UK seems to be quite similar to the continent, Ireland on the other hand is the odd one out using the American system for many signs.
I saw the signs, and it opened up my eyes I saw the signs!
I work in tech support for a line of wide format printers used by many sign shops, so this was pretty interesting for me. One lesser bit of trivia was shown to me by a shop out in California. The lowest corner of a diamond shaped sign had to have a specific curvature by state law. The assumption is that this was so someone standing by the sign could not injure their head on a sharp corner.
In Canada a railroad crossing’s cross buck doesn’t have “RAILROAD CROSSING” on it, it’s just a white X with a red border
Yeah, in Canada drivers are just supposed to guess what the sign means, which is rather strange for something so important.
The Vienna Convention signs always felt better to me than the MUTCD one.
In Europe/Sweden round signs is kinda the default, used for both showing what you are supposed to do (Keep to this side) or what ya can't do (No left turns here), depending on the color.
And I notice the triangle wasn't even on the list of shapes with meaning? Here triangles are warning for stuff near the road. Like crossings, roadwork, loose gravel, opening bridges, slippery surfaces and whatnot.
Squares is often saved for text, so information about the rules of parking, destinations, and more complex signs with combinations of images.
Some shapes are reserved for specific functions, like the upsidedown triangle is "give way", because then someone on the main road can identify the sign from its backside and know that anyone from the other road needs to give way. And ofc the stopsign is the octagonal for the same reason.
Cheddar answering the weirdest questions on my mind with each video
Canada used to use the circular advance warning signs with 2 "R's" as the US still does. Thr "R's" were then removed and later the round sign was replaced by a standard diamond-shaped warning sign with an illustration of the road and track crossing and the approximate angle they cross. The crossbuck was also changed from "rail road crossing" to a European style with a white coloring with red borders and no lettering.
I find the Vienna convtention signs (like used in Europe) less wordy than the US MUTCD signs shown in this video
For in Europe multiple languages are spoken, so wordy signs would be problematic.
@@MottyGlix They are also easier and quicker to be recognized - your brain processes a pictogram faster than a phrase made up of letters.
@ True but the US has a habbit of just writing so much on signs when a simple picture would work
2:09 "His Majesty's Road Works. Slowly, please." 😂😂😂
Bruh, I'm dead 💀
We have nearly no texts on our signs in Europe (and Germany where I live). So, most signs are no problem for foreigners or people who can not read.
Girls: I gave him so many signs.
Also girls:
I listened to an audiobook years ago called ‘The Big Roads’ that to this day is still one of my all time favorites tracking the history of the automobile/roadway infrastructure and it’s impact from the 19th century to today. The design of accommodating the car into daily U.S. life literally merged with so many other import moments in history. Seriously so good. The early portion of the book though dealt with what this video went into in way more detail.
The sign "Glavnaya doroga" found mainly in Europe is a yellow diamond on white(Major road/Priority sign)
I've seen yellow on white diamond signs in Bulgaria
In Europe we have simpler system, triangles warn, rectangles inform and circles command, the only different ones to those are, hexagon, stop, inverted triangle, give way (yield). a plain yellow diamond, you have right of way, yellow diamond with a black diagonal line, give way to the right Common in towns.
As a non european, seems more confusing than the system I learned.
Oooo I’m about to get my learners permit so this might be helpful lol
Same
Technically, the diamond grade crossing sign shown in the thumbnail is the ancestor of the Crossbuck, not the crossing approach sign.
I think the only fully universal traffic sign there is that is recognized in any nation is the stop sign.Many signs are often only understood locally or at least in one nation. But the hectagonal stop sign is as far as I know universally known. Even if it were covered in snow, or showing the word 'Stop' in Hindi or Portoguese, you'd recognize it.
Apparently a few countries on Earth don't, but pretty much every single other use the same exact one and I mean including the English word.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_sign
American road signs always looked like arbitrary plates with letters on them to my European eyes. Over here, letters are almost exclusively used for place names/directions. The one major exception being the stop sign
Probably because Europe has so many countries which you can freely travel between that if road signage has excessive wording in any one language, it would not be understood by the tourists.
Edit: I looked up european road signs, and found a lot of them familiar from my stay in Germany, especially the one way sign. It had lettering on it, Einbahnstraße, written inside the europe-wide recognisable white arrow facing right/left on long blue sign. Also, the green expressway and the blue parking sign.
@@pre-d having many people speaking different languages helps defend against thoughtless road authorities, but biggest advantage is that symbols are glance-able: you can recognize signs of of the corner of your eye and don't need to focus there to read it. Keeps attention on the road.
@@pre-d The Vienna convention on road signage was made before the freedom of movement was a thing in Europe.
A diamond is just a square rotated at 45°. So those two signs are essentially the same shape.
not all diamonds are as a diamond isn't required to have 90 degree angles. besides the message is still conveyed in what the sign requires driver to do.
I'm still waiting for a Cheddar or Vox video that doesn't start with "this is"
This is just how we do things
They're trying to be like Doug Demuro 😂
I love seeing videos of old New York
Ikr
Compared to the international Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals which is used in almost the rest of the world, the US system is very outdated. It's a shame this video even doesn't mention the Vienna system, Americans travelling abroad will encounter this like everywhere...
They both work great, driving in both Germany and the USA - neither one is clearly "better" making the other one "outdated." They're just different. There's less words on European signs, but that's understandable with all of the languages. The only thing that maybe the USA is missing out on is priority road signs.
Sadly extremely US-centric. We would have liked to know how various countries ended up with completely different sets of shapes and colors for road signs (well, mostly: the stop sign and no entry / wrong way are fairly universal). At least a mention of the International Convention on the Unification of Road Signals (Geneva 1931, fedlex.data.admin.ch/filestore/fedlex.data.admin.ch/eli/cc/50/1098_1130_1535/19350419/fr/pdf-a/fedlex-data-admin-ch-eli-cc-50-1098_1130_1535-19350419-fr-pdf-a.pdf) would have been relevant! (Under that convention, whose rules are followed in Europe and parts of Asia, Europe and South America, danger signs are triangles, prescription signs are circles, and indication signs are squares.)
History of Brazilian road signs
Stop(1938-1972)
1972-present(changed to red)
Parking lot(1938-2005)
2005-present(dark blue)
Stop/Yield ahead(1972-2005)
2005-present(diamond)
In Barcelona you have traffic signs with horses indicating the way of the street
@Blabla bla Has sense
The Australian pedestrian crossing sign is a yellow circle with a pair of walking legs on a sidewalk depicted on it...
Hello fellow Australian
It'd be great to go back to the early 1900's. I love the GREAT AGES!
Well the "sience behind the signs" is not so forgotten over here in europe. The shapes of the most important signs are international. Yield signs, stop signs and other important signs like that have the same shape in germany, france and basically all over europe and the US. This is not only to make driving through another country more safe and easy for everyone, but also to ensure that the signs are readable even if they are dirty beyond recognition or covered in snow. You still see the shape under the snow or dirt and know if you have to yield or stop. Every child learns that in germany when they do their bicycle safety training in third grade of elementary school.
The Philippines is a combination of road signs standards with Vienna Convention of Road Signs and Signals(where the Philippines was ratified by the convention) and MUTCD which is set by DPWH Standards
The sign at 0:30 is not compliant. The sign mounted on the back of a yield or stop sign must fit within the borders of the sign.
Trolleys weren't occasional! They were often the dominant mode.
1900s driving sounds and looks like fun
Reminds me of an old riddle:
Q: Railroad crossing look out for the cars! Can you spell it without any R's?
A: I, T.
New Macedonia introduced road signs in the 1940s,warning signs used to be blue,but they were changed to yellow in the 1970s we know today,similar to greek traffic signs(the give way sign was red)
Speed limit signs used to have blue numerals instead of black until the 1970s
Here am I at 1 in the morning watching a video about road signs
0:25 "We see these shapes and colours, and understand their meaning even without words" - You are talking about the country that uses the most words on their signs, and if you don't understand English good luck driving in the USA.
it's a lot better today than it was in the distant past, apparently.
If you don’t understand English, good luck doing pretty much anything in the USA. The US is the largest English speaking country in the world, and most Americans never need to use any other language.
When I was a kid, we had a riddle: Railroad Crossing, Look Out for the Cars. Can you spell that without any R's?
THAT
Aiload cossing, look out fo the cas
yes
So how did the stop sign 🛑 turn worldwide? Even in Europe etc it still is a stop sign 🛑
It was copied by everyone, it was basically one of the few things everyone took from the early U.S. system. What's interesting is that Europe pretty much uses a stop sign with the English word “STOP”; Latin America and Quebec, Canada use their respective words in their local languages (ALTO🇨🇷🇸🇻🇬🇹🇭🇳🇲🇽🇳🇮🇵🇦, PARE🇦🇷🇧🇴🇧🇷🇨🇱🇨🇴🇩🇴🇪🇨🇵🇾🇵🇪🇺🇾🇻🇪, & ARRÊT🇨🇦), other countries also use their local word or even a combination of words from a few local languages.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_sign
Stop signs are used way more in the usa then europe though
@@jamesquaine6264 Europe seems to prefer Yield (Give Way) signs.
Japan(1938-1974)
Signs used only three main colors:red,black and white
Blue and yellow were introduced in 1974
Comparison
Yield
1938:red and white
1974:red and yellow
No parking
1938:red and black
1974:red and blue
Turn left and Parking
1938:black and white
1974:blue and white
Blue road signs used to be black before 1974
Actually, the first double yellow line was in Northern Michigan, not Detroit.
this video was NOT very well done !!
The first lane marker was a single white line.
So this is another field where America does it differently from the rest of the world.
Warnings are triangles in most countries.
Round signs mean that something is forbidden (if red) or allowed/mandatory (if blue).
Only the octagonal stop sign seems to be truly universal (though there has also been a round version in the past in a number of countries).
In industrial environments the colour coding is more consistent: Blue always means that something is allowed/required, red that it is forbidden, yellow is a warning and green is used for safety (such as exits).
I would love it if yellow triangles were used universally for warnings in all countries. They already are when they warn of high voltage (yellow triangle with a black lightning symbol).
Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Liberia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Ireland, and parts of South America adapted variations of the signs that are used in the U.S. They’re straightforward and the yellow coat on the most important signs cannot be overlooked, since it's a color that's rare in the environment.
@@VieleGuteFahrer like most street signs are.
@@emilsinclair4190 What do you mean?
@@VieleGuteFahrer most colours used on signs don't exist in nature. There is no red, blue, white, black, yellow
@@emilsinclair4190 The sky is blue, clouds and fog are white. A black sign is barely visible during nighttime.
My fanmade road sign standard
Inspired by ISO-7010 and MUTCD
Warning(W,yellow)
Regulatory(P,red or M,green)
Information(E,indigo)
Advisory(F,white)
I love watching Cheddar videos.. even their first sentence have errors :grin:
I'm pretty sure that is a street, not a road!
The errors just compound as the video goes on. Like talking about the paint on modern road signs, which use retroreflective sheeting instead of paint.
We still have those old roads in India
Nice Route 66 reference!
Please make a video about the history and evolution of plastics in American society. What have plastics replaced? I would like to know some about the older plastics we no longer use and why we stopped using them. Is cellophane considered a plastic? I would like to know why we use so many different plastics. How many do we need? How do we currently recycle plastics? How are they sorted? Why are plastics so costly to reuse? I would like to know which plastics are most dangerous when they leach into the water table. Are there other dangers to us from our use of plastics? Have our experts or politicians made any changes or restrictions to reduce the known dangers? Are there any success stories on reusing plastics? What is the future of plastics? Thanks for your attention.
Regulatory pedestrian crossing signs
Normal(blue square):Ireland,China,Turkey,Palestine and Germany
Red triangle:Argentina(not to be confused with the warning sign used in Palestine and Turkey)
Yellow circle:Australia
White square:US
Argentina uses two warning sign shapes:
Yellow diamond(warning)
Red triangle(regulatory)
Argentina has no pedestrian warning signs
Self driving cars need those signs to navigate....
CPG Grey said the hexagon is the best polygon.
@Blabla bla I was just about to say that
It's interesting to compare this to Europe where this isn't exactly the same (especially the colours).
Yield sign colors
White:Turkey,Palestine,Brazil
Yellow:China
Text:Argentina(CEDA),US(YIELD)
Love the content🙌🏻 always something interesting
"Watchoutforthecar"
Yes that mean the rail car
Great topic once again!
1890s Roads in the US sounds like Indian roads in 2021
The Virgin autonomous vehicle vs the Chad train.
Not only meassure system but also road sign system is of course in the US different from the rest of the world.
Wait he didn’t even hit her lol 😂
6:15
I would think that "wrong way" sign, going off the more sides, more danger philosophy stated earlier, would warrant much more than 4 sides. Youre literally going to run into another car on the road going the opposite direction.
but it is also directional information.
Stop signs around the world
English:most countries(Stop)
Native:Egypt(Qaf),Argentina(Pare),China(Tomare),Turkey(Dur)...
Other:Palestine(hand)
@6:22 San Clemente!
You got one fact wrong -- America's first electric traffic light made its debut at the intersection of E. 105th and Euclid in Cleveland, Ohio on August 5th, 1914. Every kid from Northeast Ohio knows this!
Traffic signs in Japan
Backgrounds
Deep red
White outline=stop
No outline=no entry
Deep blue
Deep red outline=no waiting
No outline=mandatory
White
Deep red outline=restriction
Deep blue outline=information
No outline=no speed limit
Gold with Deep red outline=warning
Shapes
Triangles
Upright=warning
Inverted=yield
Hexagons=stop
Circles=regulation
Squares=information
1:25 could someone give a source for this claim? I find it hard to believe.
🤔
@@sion8 he said the first 2 cars in Detroit collided at each other and both drivers died as a result....
@@user-ov2fc5sd1e
I know.
Why no mention of theMUTCD?
0:15 *TROLLEY TOM!*
I really like that black and white is the law.. everything else is a recommendation. I guess minus stop signs..
In alot of places orange signage is also the law especially around road construction.
Interesting German map in the background. Probably from about the 1880s.
There's actually a theory where if you make roads feel less safe they actually become safer. Drivers travel more slowly and are more mindful.
It's called Woonerf I believe. Street design is super important though. You can't just remove signs and lights and expect it to work.
Yes, they did recently apply that in my city. I've never felt so uncomfortable crossing the street as the sidewalk was merged with the road (stone surface) and I can't quite grasp if the buses will murder me or not... I think they should have tried in another spot tbh
traffic calming yes. everytime i walk somewhere i get the distinct impression sometimes that if i dont run across the street someone will fucking kill me.
3:38 that was close
Discontinued priority road signs in Katsumotoland
Stop
1952-1981
1981-2017
2017-2023
2023-present
Yield
1952-1968
1968-2017
2017-present
Priority road
1952-1968(no longer used)
1981-2002
2002-present(smaller)
End priority road
1952-1968(no longer used)
1981-2002
2002-present(smaller)
Discontinued signs no longer used
No parking(1952-1981)
No turning(1952-1994)
Warning of bad weather(1994-2017)
Directional sign(ALL CAPS,1952-1994)
What about triangle signs like everywhere else?
5:10 why do I know that that’s from jelly beans
Signs, signs, everywhere's a sign
This was so cool
4 years after the center line for the stop sign that seems backwards to me 😂
Keeping cars from head-on collisions was considered more important than providing priority at intersections.
I Had A Standardized Sign System As Early As My Birth In 1821! My Name Is "Chile"
This is literally where we are at in the internet stage.
3:20
kansas be like: we've got also signs ._.
American road signs are too wordy. Many are just rectangles with information written on them, which makes it hard to take them in quickly and it makes it very difficult for people whose first language isn’t English to read them at any speed at all.
Good traffic signs should be symbols that are easily and quickly recognisable
Vienna Convention on Traffic got you covered
okay and thats kind of what we do already. everybody knows yield is a red and white triangle
EDIT: red and white not red and yellow. yes i am a dumb fuck
@@red2theelectricboogaloo961
That’s because the shape of the yield sign is an international standard, it’s not an American design (it originates from Denmark).
A lot of American signs are just words, such as:
- Left lane must turn left
- No motor vehicles
- Do not pass
- Keep right
- Road narrows
That’s just a few examples, but every one of those signs in the USA is written out with words, and every UK equivalent is a simple image or symbol, with no words. It’s much easier to identify at a distance or at speed, and it also makes perfect sense for people who don’t speak English.
@@marklaw5116 well i guess
i dunno take it to your city council i dont know
@@red2theelectricboogaloo961
What? I don’t need to, I live in the UK. It’s Americans that need to change.
Walmart Traffic Signs😂
YIELD
RIGHT OF WAY
Inspired by Italian priority signs
If only guns in America were regulated like cars.
Oh please 🛑it. It doesnt work that way. Do your own search.
@Kenrick, not a good statement from a FREE American!! You may take your regulations, restrictions, laws, fees, licenses etc. and move to a Communist Country anytime!! Then you won’t have to be concerned about such nasty things like PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITIES !!! ENJOY !!! 🇺🇸
@@lylecoglianese1645 I Australian.
@@KenrickLeiba, we want to KEEP our weapons here (US).
@@lylecoglianese1645 you can keep them, just properly regulate them. Regulate doesn’t mean “Derr takin’ our guuuuuuuns!” Even though the NRA has successfully made that false equivalence stick.
Pretty much every other developed country on earth has figured this out and it’s really no different to instituting properly road rules and street signs in the video above.
Yeah the roads still look like that where I drive. No one pays attention to the signs.
A circle has 1 side. Therefore should represent the least important, informational signs, like parking.
No. In geometry, sides are line segments, and always straight. A circle is formed when so many line segments are pushed together that the human eye cannot pick out each individual segment, be it due to the size of the shape or the resolution of the eye, and all segments merge. However, there is no limit to how many line segments can be added and how low a resolution one can see, and since there are infinite numbers, there are also infinite possible sides. This means that a circle, with the right conditions (size and resolution) can have any positive number of sides if they are more than three, as that is what is required to make a closed shape. So, in essence, the number of sides a circle has is (∞-3).
@@pre-d very cool, thanks for your reply.
European signs are superior
Now do railroad signs
Railroad Crossing, lookout for the car. How do you spell it without any 'R's?
IT
Oh
It's 11:59pm why am I here
How about why were old cars’ wheels so skinny?
Narrator sounds like Tina Fey
Dude loves his printers
What irony - you talk about standardization, yet the whole video is about a system in a single country, while the signs laid out by the Vienna Convention are used in several dozens of countries and you never mentioned this...
Is Vienna the us?
@@Packxen nor is Geneva, like the Geneva Convention, don’t you know what conventions are?