Road Signs
Stephen P. Guthrie
'Daylight Test Area - Turn on Headlamps' (or something to that effect).
What is this all about? If you turn on your headlamps and it doesn't
get lighter, then it must not be daylight, is that it?
Daniel M. Rosenberg
If you're talking about the various roads in these parts that cross
over the Santa Cruz range, there are indeed "Daylight Safety Zone" places,
where you turn on your headlights, lest the really curvy roads and daytime
fog (pretty much clouds at that height) cause you and some other luckless
motorist to do the Head On Thing and meet your respective Makers.
--
# Daniel M. Rosenberg Stanford Univ CSLI Opinions here are my own
# d...@csli.stanford.edu {apple,ucbvax}!labrea!csli!dmr BIT:dmr%csli@stanford
Scott Amspoker
How come I never see someone standing by the road with a white smock
and a clipboard?
--
Scott Amspoker | Touch the peripheral convex of every
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Cornell Kinderknecht
of signs that say "Do Not Drive Into Smoke". I have tried to figure
out what they mean but as yet have come up with no answer. Perhaps
they are just giving some good advice in some general situation that
has nothing to do with anything in that area?!
Norman Diamond
>In Oklahoma, somewhere between O.K. CIty and Texas there are a couple
>of signs that say "Do Not Drive Into Smoke". I have tried to figure
>out what they mean but as yet have come up with no answer.
Those are the places you're supposed to put it on cruise control and
hop in the back for a beer.
--
Norman Diamond dia...@tkov50.enet.dec.com
If this were the company's opinion, I wouldn't be allowed to post it.
Permission is granted to feel this signature, but not to look at it.
Anton E. Skaugset
I believe that in areas like flatland OK and Texas range fires are a
significant hazard. The plumes of smoke that drift across the highway are
just a bit denser than your average fog bank, and if you fly into one at
65 mph you might just meet someone who stopped because they have zero
visibility. That's how 24 car pile-ups happen. So, the sign means just what
it says. If there is smoke across the roadway, don't drive into it.
A.E.Skaugset "If I don't understand it, it must be art.
skau...@aries.scs.uiuc.edu I don't understand women.
University of Illinois Women must be art."
Reed '87
Ann M. Davis
My favorite road sign was one I saw in Michigan it said:
"Prison area, do not pick up hitch-hikers"
Ann
Brian D. Howard
>My favorite road sign was one I saw in Michigan it said:
> "Prison area, do not pick up hitch-hikers"
There is one of those signs at the Milan,MI exit on US23. I listened
on a CB one time while various people commented on the intelligence of
a person that was actually trying to catch a ride standing in front of
the sign.
--
"Hire the young while they still know everything."
Wendy Foran Howard
locals. Behind the local mall are two good examples.
"Pulaski Road ---->" means Pulaski Road straight ahead, and
"Cicero North ---->" means better go toward the right, cause the left
fork is one-way."
The best example is telling an out-of-towner how to get to Northpark
from downtown Dallas. Well, you are going to want to take Central
Expressway to Northwest Highway. Get on the interstate. Don't
exit at Central Expressway; exit at "To Sherman." -- that's Central
Expressway. Follow the signs. Exit at Loop 12 -- that's Northwest
Highway." (There really was an exit marked Central Expressway that
did not take you to Central Expressway without going through a *bad*
part of town, while if you waited two (or so) exits, you could
merge directly onto Central.)
TJ Wood WA3VQJ
>My favorite road sign was one I saw in Michigan it said:
> "Prison area, do not pick up hitch-hikers"
I see this one all the time. There's one around a correctional facility near
Ann Arbor. A guy I gave a lift to, who was carrying a heavy ball and some
chain, told me that it meant not to date or have one night stands with
hitch-hikers as you'd feel like you were in Prison.
Nice of the MiHP to look out for my emotional welfare.
Terry "Absolutely True" Wood
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Bill Harris
In Gatlinburg, Tennessee about ten years ago there
was a glass shop with a neon sign above the door
that read simply, "Glass Blowing". If you stood in
just the right spot on the opposite side of the street
the sign from an adjacent store would block out the "Gl".
O.K., so it's not a road sign but it's still great to
remember the looks on people's faces when they caught it
for the first time! Ha,Ha,Ha.........
bh
Steve Hodo
In article <1991Jun11....@tkou02.enet.dec.com>,
I could be wrong on this, but out in some of the less populated areas
of the state the highway dept. uses controlled fires to kill the weeds
near the roadway. If not, then I've seen quiet a few very strange
grassfires. :)
Lance Franklin
More than likely, it's another one of those revenue-enhancers for some
small town on that country highway. Whenever they need a few bucks,
the small-town fuzz probably hangs around on the other side of a curve,
waiting for somebody to come by with their headlamps out.
"Don't they teach ya'll to read there in the big city, sport? Ya'll
just follow me to the courthouse, y'hear?"
Lance "Terry" Franklin (no, really!)
--
Lance T. Franklin +----------------------------------------------+
(l...@ncmicro.lonestar.org) | "You want I should bop you with this here |
NC Microproducts, Inc. | Lollipop?!?" The Fat Fury |
Richardson, Texas +----------------------------------------------+
Cindy Kandolf
accidents happen in that area. in some countries, norway included, the law
says you must have your headlights on at all times when driving on public
roads. the theory is that even in bright daylight you can see an oncoming car
better is it has its headlights on. (even if this isn't true, the frequent
sudden rains in coastal norway and the multitude of tunnels inland does tend
to justify it...) your state may be testing to see if having headlights on
during the day does reduce accidents. however, i must admit stephen guthrie's
interpretation sounds closer to what the sign says 8-)
-cindy kandolf
ci...@solan.unit.no
trondheim, norway
Robert Murphy
It seems that the California state transportation people are seeing whether
or not the accident rate goes down if people turn on their headlights during
the daytime. This is based on the premise that daytime use of headlights
increases a car's visibility. I presume you're referring to the stretch of
highway running over the mountains between San Jose and Santa Cruz. There's
another "test area" on the road running between Novato and Vallejo here in
the north end of the bay.
Nolan Hinshaw
[about "Daylight test section" signs]
Here in California we compare the incidence of inter-auto
incidents on these test sections with said incidence on other
sections of highway in the state. Someone had the idea that
having headlights on during the day would make cars more visible
than they'd be with the headlights off (Naw! No way anyone in
state govt. would make that mistake!), so there was (and maybe
still is? ennybuddy got the poop from Sacramento on this?)
a study of the subject. We find those sections all over the
place. My favorites happen to be in areas which suffer
atmospheric disturbances conducive to daylight headlighting -
the tule fog belt in the Central Valley and the fog belt along
the coast.
--
Nolan Hinshaw Internet: no...@twg.com
The Wollongong Group Dingalingnet: (415)962-7197
Piobairi Uillean, San Francisco
Mise mo drumadoir eile fein!
Angst Angstrom
>[about "Daylight test section" signs]
>Here in California we compare the incidence of inter-auto
>incidents on these test sections with said incidence on other
>sections of highway in the state.
There's one of these "daylight test sections" (actually, it's
labelled a "daylight safety section") on State Highway 17 between
Los Gatos and Santa Cruz, California. The odd thing is, the
opposing lanes are separated by a four-foot-high concrete barrier.
Go figure...
Geoff
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Geoff Miller + + + + + + + + Sun Microsystems
geo...@purplehaze.EBay.sun.com + + + + + + + + Milpitas, California
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Richard H. Miller
The short answer is grass fires. If you are driving along you can also see
burned areas that are quite extensive, Remeber how hot and dry it gets during
the summer and thing what a tossed cigerette or a catalytic convertor could
do. When one of these things starts, they tend to take some time to go out
and cause large amounts of smoke which is very thick. The warning is to not
try to drive into it since you can't see what might be ahead. [Having seen
some of these between OKC and Tulsa, I would never question the sign.]
--
Richard H. Miller Email: ri...@bcm.tmc.edu
Asst. Dir. for Technical Support Voice: (713)798-3532
Baylor College of Medicine US Mail: One Baylor Plaza, 302H
Houston, Texas 77030
Terry Chan
handy tips that I see on the Maine Turnpike. Stuff like "Stay Awake",
which is, I suppose, a good practice to keep on the road. Like I
needed a sign to tell me that. Besides, if I'm falling asleep, how
will I see the sign?
Another is "Low Flying Aircraft", I mean, what can you do? Duck?
Terry "Frustrated Traffic Cop" Chan
--
================================================================================
INTERNET: twc...@lbl.gov BITNET: twc...@lbl.bitnet
"I realize that I'm generalizing here, but as is often the case when I
generalize, I don't care." -- Dave Barry
Christopher Pettus
>Another is "Low Flying Aircraft", I mean, what can you do? Duck?
Indeed. I suppose this is part of an epidemic of signs of the form:
"Well, if something terrible happens to you, we don't know what you
could have done to prevent it, but YOU WERE WARNED!"
Not quite a roadsign, but a frequent thing to hear on the airport
information broadcast when flying a light plane into an airport is:
"Bird activity on and about airport." Uh, thanks, guys. What am I
supposed to do: Honk my horn?
--
Christopher Pettus -- Object-Based Systems -- Apple Computer, Inc.
MS 3-PK -- (408) 974-0004 -- c...@apple.com -- Link CHRISTOPHE
"If we had brains, we could have brains 'n' eggs, if we had eggs."
Stephen P. Guthrie
vehicles are spelled incorrectly (maybe phoenetic spelling - I can't
remember). Is there really such a literacy problem among truck drivers,
or what's the deal?
Stephanie da Silva
> Along this thread of odd or weird road signs, I always remember the
> handy tips that I see on the Maine Turnpike. Stuff like "Stay Awake",
> which is, I suppose, a good practice to keep on the road. Like I
> needed a sign to tell me that.
>
The sign I like is the one you see near schools that say, "Slow
Children."
They don't have to warn you about the fast ones...
--
Stephanie da Silva Taronga Park -- (713) 568-0480
ari...@taronga.hackercorp.com Houston, Texas
ari...@hackercorp.com (Not the zoo... my Unix system...)
MX...@psuvm.psu.edu
the Interstate system construction boom, I91 and I84 in Connecticut were
festooned with signs that read something like:
"This road legally closed....."
I saw many people driving on them, but no arrests!
Mostly THE BEAR
aka MXL4@PSUVM <Mark Lafer> () ()
o . o
Not a By-product of Any Technology! xxx
Lars Henrik Mathiesen
>Another is "Low Flying Aircraft", I mean, what can you do? Duck?
I can well believe that there are people who would be upset by the
sight of a 747 on final approach crossing the highway fifty feet in
front of them. Presumably, they are less likely to wreck their car if
they're warned.
ObUL: Disproportionally many airports are placed in foggy lowland
areas next to bird breeding grounds.
--
Lars Mathiesen, DIKU, U of Copenhagen, Denmark [uunet!]mcsun!diku!thorinn
Warning: This article may contain unmarked humour. tho...@diku.dk
Tom Neff
>I've also noticed that many of the signs specifically directed at heavy
>vehicles are spelled incorrectly (maybe phoenetic spelling - I can't
>remember). Is there really such a literacy problem among truck drivers,
>or what's the deal?
Well Stephen, this is hard to explain, but some people just seem to have
a spelling problem!
Tom Neff
>I don't know what they say these days, but back in the late '60s, during
>the Interstate system construction boom, I91 and I84 in Connecticut were
>festooned with signs that read something like:
> "This road legally closed....."
>I saw many people driving on them, but no arrests!
They still do this, saying "Drive At Your Own Risk" and so forth. The
idea, as with so many things these days, is to try and forestall
financial liability. If you crack an axle in Bridgeport after driving
by a prominent "Road Legally Closed" sign, the hope is that the judge
will say you knowingly took the risk, and can't collect from the state
or city. I have no idea how well this stratagem is working in the
courts, but I know someone who would -- I'll ask him.
W. Scott Cranston
>handy tips that I see on the Maine Turnpike. Stuff like "Stay Awake",
>which is, I suppose, a good practice to keep on the road. Like I
>needed a sign to tell me that. Besides, if I'm falling asleep, how
>will I see the sign?
>
Those are the least inane of the Mainiac road signs. Others are
"Dim lights to approaching traffic"
"Slow down in rain"
and my all time favorite:
"Do not straddle lane markings"
I mean, c'mon, how doltish are those Mainers? I honestly wouldn't be
surprised to see one that said "Use steering wheel for directional control."
-wsc
--
+---------^> "The Spirit of Massachusetts is the Spirit of America"
| < -Massachusetts Division of Tourism
+-.-----. \ 7 "Right..."
\_\_/ -cran...@cadence.com
Chuck Kirschman
How about protest signs, such as "End Construction" ? They never seem to
have any effect. I come back the same way, and there's still construction
there.
chuck "I once dated a terry - we didn't go to a snuff film though"
Chuck Kirschman Internet: cki...@eng.clemson.edu
Mechanical Engineer in Training Bitnet: ckirsch@clemson
"I don't NEED to compromise my principles, because they don't have the
slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway." - Calvin
Julie Kozaczka Stahlhut
>the Interstate system construction boom, I91 and I84 in Connecticut were
>festooned with signs that read something like:
> "This road legally closed....."
>I saw many people driving on them, but no arrests!
>
> Mostly THE BEAR
>
Lots of roads in Connecticut are festooned with those signs. Not only
were they common in the late 60's, but they're still there in many of
the same places. My husband refers to Connecticut as the "Road
Legally Closed State", but I think that "Road Legally Closed" is the
closest translation possible to "Qui Transtulit Sustinet". (Hey, it's
not easy making a Connecticut inside joke.)
I don't think the signs mean it's illegal to drive on the road. I think
that it means something along the line of "Hit a pothole and wreck your
entire undercarriage, bub, and it's your own fault. We're not going
to maintain this road. We don't care. We don't have to. Signed, your
friendly state DPW."
--
Julie Kozaczka Stahlhut
"I'm not especially responsible but it's not my employer's fault."
Vince Gibboni; x6220
>
> Those are the least inane of the Mainiac road signs. Others are
> "Dim lights to approaching traffic"
> "Slow down in rain"
> and my all time favorite:
> "Do not straddle lane markings"
>
> I mean, c'mon, how doltish are those Mainers? I honestly wouldn't be
> surprised to see one that said "Use steering wheel for directional control."
>
But as you no doubt know Scott, this advice is not for the Mainers but
for the myriad Massachusettsoid maniacs driving up to Maine, the bulk
whom do not seem to have mastered the red-light/green-light thing much
less these more subtle driving tips.
Anyway, when driving from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando a few years ago
on "Florida's Turnpike" I remember periodically seeing really weird
signs with short phrases which seemed like non-sequitors on them
along the road every 50 miles or so. These signs looked official
(i.e. not advertisements, but Dept. of Transportation-type stuff);
does anyone know what they're for ? (Our best guess was that they're
there to keep you awake trying to figure out why the hell they're there).
"When you start out depressed everything is pretty much a pleasant surprise" - Lloyd Dobbler, _Say Anything_
Dan Berleant
>
> ... Massachusettsoid maniacs driving up to Maine, the bulk
> whom do not seem to have mastered the red-light/green-light thing much
> less these more subtle driving tips.
I hear (from a foaf) that in Massachusetts there are flashing green traffic
lights. Is that true? If so, what do they mean -- drive extra fast??
Dan
James Davis Nicoll
>I don't know what they say these days, but back in the late '60s, during
>the Interstate system construction boom, I91 and I84 in Connecticut were
>festooned with signs that read something like:
> "This road legally closed....."
>I saw many people driving on them, but no arrests!
There was an elderly bridge near a farm I lived on, which had
two signs: Men at Work and Cross at Own Risk. In the ten years I lived
on the farm, I never saw any evidence that the 'Men at Work' were in
fact present and at work. On the other hand, the numerous holes on the
bridge lent a certain support to the 'Cross at Own Risk', although since
my school bus crossed the bridge twice a day, perhaps the danger was over-
stated.
Heh. Last time I visited the old neighborhood, there was a new bridge.
I guess one bus load of kids didn't get home :)
Now, the really fun bridge antic were when our next door neighbor
was straddling his creek with a 16 wheeler when his bridge suddenly decided
collapse...
James Nicoll
Christopher Pettus
>ObUL: Disproportionally many airports are placed in foggy lowland
>areas next to bird breeding grounds.
Dunno about the bird breeding grounds part, but it makes a certain
amount of sense to put airports in the kind of area that many coastal
airports are found in: Landfill on the water in marshy wetlands.
Theory: You (being the airport designer) want the aircraft to take off
over water to minimize noise (this means that have to land over the
ground, but that's less noisy). The real estate is relatively
undesirable (so developers probably won't build right up to your fence
[although they do anyway]), and thus cheap.
Problems: Well, if you're in an inland town ... so much for the
coastline. Wetland aren't the "wastelands" they used to be, now that
we are at least paying lip-service to not destroying any species that
inconveniently chooses to live on land that we want for something. And
they're foggy, which isn't any good at all for airplanes.
Now, is there any reality in this? Well, haul out the sectional
charts. At least Los Angeles International, San Francisco
International, Oakland Metropolitan and Santa Barbara Regional all meet
this definition. Almost no small airports do, and several major
airports (John Wayne Orange County, San Deigo Lindbergh, San Jose
International) don't either. Probably no real basis ... just that all
of the towns that have foggy lowlands happened to put their airports
there.
Back to your regularly scheduled newsgroup ... sorry for the burst of
alt.folklore.urban.aviation lately.
Terry Chan
writes:
+I hear (from a foaf) that in Massachusetts there are flashing green traffic
+lights. Is that true? If so, what do they mean -- drive extra fast??
Yes, I've driven through them myself. I seem to recall that they are often
on intersections at odd hours of the night when traffic is low. The main
throughfare will have a flashing green and the auxillary cross street will
have a flashing yellow.
The other reason I heard was that you were supposed to jerk your way across
the intersection. :-)
Terry
Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim)
>
>I hear (from a foaf) that in Massachusetts there are flashing green traffic
>lights. Is that true? If so, what do they mean -- drive extra fast??
>
town I grew up in, the solitary intersection in town that had lights
would stop cycling the colors and just flash yellow starting about
11pm until some time in the early morning. It was explained to me
that so little traffic went through during those hours it was cheaper/
easier to maintain/simpler to have it flash the one color. The
intersection was treated as a four-way stop during these times.
I always wondered why they didn't flash the red lights if it was a
four-way stop though.
--
"Coming to you direct from the largest synchronicity hole in the universe,
Socorro, New Mexico, its..."
Kansas Jim (jo...@zia.aoc.nrao.edu)
Michael Hart
>>which is, I suppose, a good practice to keep on the road. Like I
>>
>Those are the least inane of the Mainiac road signs. Others are
>"Dim lights to approaching traffic"
>"Slow down in rain"
>and my all time favorite:
>"Do not straddle lane markings"
>"Use steering wheel for directional control."
My all-time favorite, seen at various locations in the New York/New Jersey
area, usually prominently displayed hanging from a traffic light:
"Wait for green light"
--
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Michael G. Hart Internet: ha...@blackjack.dt.navy.mil |
| (no new .sig today) AOL: MikelHart |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Stephanie da Silva
> >
> I've never seen flashing green lights but back in the small Kansas
> town I grew up in, the solitary intersection in town that had lights
> would stop cycling the colors and just flash yellow starting about
> I always wondered why they didn't flash the red lights if it was a
> four-way stop though.
In a little town I lived in when I was small (okay, it was Waukesha, WI),
they had both stoplights and stopsigns at some of the intersections. The
reason being, the traffic volume was so low, they'd just turn off the
stoplights at night and you were supposed to obey the stopsigns instead.
Sounds sort of confusing to me.
W. Scott Cranston
>lights. Is that true? If so, what do they mean -- drive extra fast??
>
I finally figured this one out a little while ago. It means pedestrians
can cross. No kidding.
W. Scott Cranston
>In article <14...@ai.cs.utexas.edu> berl...@cs.utexas.edu (Dan Berleant) writes:
>>
>>lights. Is that true? If so, what do they mean -- drive extra fast??
>>
>advanced green (ie you can turn left, the guys coming the other way
>still have a red light).
> Isn't this a standard around the continent?
>
This is definitely not true here in the Bay State. Usually advanced
greens like that are not denoted at all. That's right! If you don't
know about it, then you just sit there, quietly yielding to what you
think is oncoming traffic, until people behind you start honking (this
usually takes about 0.2 seconds). But then again, every light has an
implied advanced green, since every time the light changes 3-4 left
turning cars gun their way through the intersection before the oncoming
traffic can start up. I always wanted a 20 foot long spike that would
shoot out of the front of the car in front of one of these guys and
bring him/her to an instant halt. I would then proceed quietly through
the intersection.
You know, considering the fact that nobody really knows what the traffic
laws are here, or if any do exist, we could start up some interesting
legends. Someone once told me that stop signs with a white border are
optional.
-scott "traffic vigilante" cranston
W. Scott Cranston
>
>The sign I like is the one you see near schools that say, "Slow
>Children."
>They don't have to warn you about the fast ones...
>--
Around here the warning signs are usually set up with a big word in the middle,
indicating the danger, and around it some advisory caution, like:
+----------+
| Go |
| |
| Children | <------in big letters
| |
| Slow |
+----------+
This can lead to many a confusing sign. The best one ever was:
Reduce
Children
Speed
-wsc
Steve Monson
a question. Has anyone any idea on the reason for the existence of the
following sign:
GUARDRAIL DAMAGE AHEAD
I mean, I'm not out driving, looking for a good place to go flying off the
road, and will avoid damaged guardrails. There are no large flanges
sticking out into the traffic. Usually, there's just a dented spot in
the guardrail. No big deal. Is this supposed to be so shocking to
motorists that they must ber warned ahead of time to expect it?
That one I have never figured out.
Steve
--
Once you give up your integrity, the rest is a piece of cake.
J.R. Ewing
Randal L. Schwartz
| I've never seen flashing green lights but back in the small Kansas
| town I grew up in, the solitary intersection in town that had lights
| would stop cycling the colors and just flash yellow starting about
| 11pm until some time in the early morning. It was explained to me
| that so little traffic went through during those hours it was cheaper/
| easier to maintain/simpler to have it flash the one color. The
| intersection was treated as a four-way stop during these times.
|
| I always wondered why they didn't flash the red lights if it was a
| four-way stop though.
Are you sure it wasn't a four-way yield instead (aka uncontrolled
intersection)? Around here, most of the city streets have *no* stop
signs unless they get a certain amount of traffic. You basically just
tug along and look as you get close to the intersection. If no one's
there, you just buzz right through without even slowing down.
From what I understand from my "Right Coast" friends, this just isn't
done back there. How odd. You mean you have at least two stop signs
at *every* intersection? Wow.
Just another native Portlander,
--
/=Randal L. Schwartz, Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 ==========\
| on contract to Intel's iWarp project, Beaverton, Oregon, USA, Sol III |
| mer...@iwarp.intel.com ...!any-MX-mailer-like-uunet!iwarp.intel.com!merlyn |
\=Cute Quote: "Intel: putting the 'backward' in 'backward compatible'..."====/
Guy Jacobson
entrances to firehouses.
_________________________________________________________________
Guy Jacobson (908) 582-6558 AT&T Bell Laboratories
uucp: {att,ucbvax}!ulysses!guy 600 Mountain Avenue
internet: g...@ulysses.att.com Murray Hill NJ, 07974
Julie Kozaczka Stahlhut
My husband took a photo of me staring perplexedly at this sign in
Bath, England:
DEAD
SLOW
CHILDREN
It was posted on a fence next to a small access road through a park.
Jeremy
>
>In article <1991Jun18.1...@odin.diku.dk> tho...@diku.dk (Lars Henrik
>Mathiesen) writes:
>>ObUL: Disproportionally many airports are placed in foggy lowland
>>areas next to bird breeding grounds.
<Best Andy Rooney voice>: Didja ever notice...*just* before you land
at the foggy, lowland, etc airport you *always* cross a major highway
before you can even see the runway...
Re funny road signs..as a furrner, I'd like to know why they have signs
saying "bridge freezes before road"? Is this like hot water freezing
before cold water?
jeremy "tray in upright position"
Christopher Neufeld
>lights. Is that true? If so, what do they mean -- drive extra fast??
>
advanced green (ie you can turn left, the guys coming the other way
still have a red light).
Isn't this a standard around the continent?
>Dan
--
Christopher Neufeld....Just a graduate student | If ignorance is bliss
neu...@aurora.physics.utoronto.ca Ad astra | why aren't there more
cneufeld@{pnet91,pro-cco}.cts.com | happy people?
"Don't edit reality for the sake of simplicity" |
snopes
In article <1991Jun18.2...@cadence.com>,
vi...@cadence.com (Vince Gibboni; x6220) writes...
> Anyway, when driving from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando a few years ago
> on "Florida's Turnpike" I remember periodically seeing really weird
> signs with short phrases which seemed like non-sequitors on them
> along the road every 50 miles or so. These signs looked official
> (i.e. not advertisements, but Dept. of Transportation-type stuff);
> does anyone know what they're for ? (Our best guess was that they're
> there to keep you awake trying to figure out why the hell they're there).
In Texas I used to wonder why there were signs saying "Drive Friendly" all
along the highway, until I noticed that a panel could be folded down to make
the sign read "WARNING: ICY ROAD" or some such message during appropriate
weather conditions. Could the signs you mention serve some other message
purpose as well?
- snopes
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| NOTE: No part of this signature may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced
| into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means
| (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior
| written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
| critical articles and reviews. <mikk...@breakr.enet.dec.com>
| * David Mikkelson Digital Equipment Corporation, Culver City, CA USA *
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+
Malcolm L. Carlock
>
>I've seen LOADED A-6s come over 15ft off the road.
Yep. "Hah! Y'only speed ONE TAHM in this state, Boy!"
Mike Vevea
>lights. Is that true? If so, what do they mean -- drive extra fast??
>
>Dan
still trying to figure out what they mean. The little `read me before
you try to take the test' book that the Registry passes out uses
EXACTLY the same words in describing a flashing yellow and a flashing
green light. I've asked twice at the Registry and I've asked 3 different
brands of cop. None have been able to explain the difference between
flashing green and flashing yellow. The really strange thing is that they
all start to explain the difference, then get to the critical part, and
suddenly get a strange look on their face, followed by `you know, I've
never noticed this, but I don't know the difference either'. I finally gave
up worrying...I figure if no cops know the difference, they can't very well
write a ticket for it.
But if you find flashing green strange, you should see the other fascinating
pattern they use out here: red and yellow at the same time. It means `walk'.
The books only say that it means `walk', but I've never seen it for anything
but a 4-way walk. The strange thing is that I believe that I've seen it
at one corner that also had normal walk/wait lights! The first time I saw
this one was before I'd gotten the local rule book...it really threw me!
mikeV <mi...@nmr-z.MGH.Harvard.EDU>
Steve Austin
>The sign I like is the one you see near schools that say, "Slow
>Children."
>They don't have to warn you about the fast ones...
This is not a road sign, but the most fun sign I saw was at
Portmerion in Wales. As you are approaching the beach, it says:
DANGEROUS CURRENTS
TAKE CARE OF SMALL CHILDREN
So if you want some small children "taken care of", you know where
to go.
Steve
Farshid Guilak
>saying "bridge freezes before road"? Is this like hot water freezing
>before cold water?
>
>jeremy "tray in upright position"
In cold weather, bridges will freeze before the roads because they
can lose heat from above and below. Roads are very well insulated
from below by quite a bit of dirt, soil, etc. which will keep them
from freezing even though the air temperature may be below freezing.
Farsh
the dark girl
>In article <14...@dog.ee.lbl.gov> twc...@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan) writes:
>>Along this thread of odd or weird road signs, I always remember the
>>handy tips that I see on the Maine Turnpike. Stuff like "Stay Awake",
>>which is, I suppose, a good practice to keep on the road. Like I
>>needed a sign to tell me that. Besides, if I'm falling asleep, how
>>will I see the sign?
>
>Those are the least inane of the Mainiac road signs. Others are
>"Dim lights to approaching traffic"
>"Slow down in rain"
>and my all time favorite:
>"Do not straddle lane markings"
when you enter maryland, the signs say "welcome to
maryland. please drive gently."
gypsy
--
gypsy@popeet!c3.com women and elephants never forget
Nolan Hinshaw
:I can well believe that there are people who would be upset by the
:sight of a 747 on final approach crossing the highway fifty feet in
:front of them. Presumably, they are less likely to wreck their car if
:they're warned.
The low flying aircraft warnings are there so folks'll know
where to park and watch. Or shoot spitwads at the aircraft.
Or whatever. (reminds me of the recent article that mentioned
the Far Side panel of the giant frog with its tongue stuck
to the underside of an airliner }:^}>
--
Nolan Hinshaw Internet: no...@twg.com
The Wollongong Group Dingalingnet: (415)962-7197
Piobairi Uillean, San Francisco
Is mise mo drumadoir eile fein!
ol...@xn.ll.mit.edu
>I hear (from a foaf) that in Massachusetts there are flashing green traffic
>lights. Is that true? If so, what do they mean -- drive extra fast??
It's true. As far as I understand, it means:
Go ahead. This light doesn't change on a regular, periodic cycle,
but be prepared for it to change at any time.
Flashing green lights are generally found next to fire stations, and they
change to red when the fire engines are about to respond to a fire alarm.
--
Jim Olsen ol...@mit.edu
Alan W. Glaser
>
>Re funny road signs..as a furrner, I'd like to know why they have signs
>saying "bridge freezes before road"? Is this like hot water freezing
>before cold water?
>
>jeremy "tray in upright position"
I've always heard that since the bridge is hanging in midair (more or less),
the wind passing both above it and below it cools the bridge much more quickly
than the surrounding road, which only has evaporative cooling on the top (we
all hope, anyway 8^) ). Could also have something to do with heat retained
be the earth's surface. Anyone else want to take a more informed stab?
Anyway, result is, water on bridge freezes before water on road. I think.
Alan
"Look Ma -- no .sig!!"
John-Marc Chandonia,Biophysics,,34954
At some intersections there are flashing green one way/flashing red
the other; and at some intersections you get the same thing in
yellow/red. According to the Mass. driver's handbook (half of
which is devoted to telling you which line to stand in at the
Registry) the yellow and green lights have the SAME rules
associated with them.
It is commonly known that flashing green lights were
first produced by a group of MIT students screwing around with
the lights... rather than fix them, the law-happy Massachusians
simply made up a few more laws governing their regulation.
This is true, but good enough for folklore:
About once a month or so, two trucks will double park
on Mass. Ave (a major street in Cambridge) such that the
road is completely blocked for 10 minutes or more: i.e.
--------------------------------
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX = lane of parked cars
Truck
kcurT
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
--------------------------------
I have seen this 4 times along the Harvard-MIT stretch!!!
JMC
--
chan...@husc9.harvard.edu | I will not yell fire in a crowded classroom
John-Marc Chandonia | I will not yell fire in a crowded classroom
Graduate Biophysics Program | I will not yell fire in a crowded classroom
Harvard University | I will not yell fire ...
Terry Chan
writes:
+The flashing green stoplights in Massachusetts are located at the
+entrances to firehouses.
Really? I recall seeing them on Commonwealth Avenue right where it
runs through Boston University. I can't say I recall many firehouses
there.
Terry "Road Warrior" Chan
mor...@ramblr.enet.dec.com
> The flashing green stoplights in Massachusetts are located at the
> entrances to firehouses.
They're really located where the light will stay flashing green until some
trigger (other than a timer) can change it to red. Therefore they're located
at firehouses and crosswalks. They're quite rare, and I've never seen any
further away from Boston than Framingham (about 20 miles or so).
I think the flashing green and the simultaneous red-yellow crosswalk signal are
both endangered - they don't correspond to the Federal Uniform Traffic Signals
Act or something, so no new ones will be erected, and old ones, as they need
replacing, will be replaced by 'normal' traffic signals (such as a flashing
yellow at firehouses).
-Mike
Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim)
>
> [my story about flashing yellow lights deleted for brevity]
>
>Are you sure it wasn't a four-way yield instead (aka uncontrolled
>intersection)? Around here, most of the city streets have *no* stop
>signs unless they get a certain amount of traffic. You basically just
>tug along and look as you get close to the intersection. If no one's
>there, you just buzz right through without even slowing down.
Now that I think back (through the haze of many years) I believe
you're right. I can remember zipping right through the light several
times late at night because there wasn't anyone else at the
intersection. (I wasn't driving so don't blame me if we were breaking
the law!)
>From what I understand from my "Right Coast" friends, this just isn't
>done back there. How odd. You mean you have at least two stop signs
>at *every* intersection? Wow.
They must have more money than us poor midwesterners (and southwest-
erners).
Carlos Borges
>can cross. No kidding.
In Canada, a flashing green is the same as a "turn-arrow". Do you have
those in the U.S.? It means you have complete right-of-way. You can,
for example, safely take a left turn, without worrying about oncoming
traffic, since everyone else has a red light.
--
C. Miguel Borges "The philosophers have only interpretted
St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada the world in various ways; the point
car...@garfield.cs.mun.ca is to change it."
an...@cleveland.Freenet.edu - Karl Marx
Anthony DeBoer
>ObUL: Disproportionally many airports are placed in foggy lowland
>areas next to bird breeding grounds.
Actually, that's not coincidence. When they're trying to decide where to put
mechanical birds, they take a good look around for the best area for them, and
the best tipoff is to look for an area where there are a lot of natural birds.
They figure that over the years, the birds have found the best areas for
flying and breeding, and that these areas will be good for the jets too.
Allow me at this point to add a :-) to this message.
--
Anthony DeBoer NAUI#Z8800 ade...@gjetor.geac.com
Geac Canada Ltd., Toronto uunet!geac!gjetor!adeboer
Geoff Miller
In article <1991Jun17.2...@neon.Stanford.EDU> s...@Neon.Stanford.EDU
(Stephen P. Guthrie) writes:
>I've also noticed that many of the signs specifically directed at heavy
>vehicles are spelled incorrectly (maybe phoenetic spelling - I can't
>remember). Is there really such a literacy problem among truck drivers,
>or what's the deal?
I've seen signs on I-80 up near Lake Tahoe that are written in a
folksy lingo with trucker teminology, but no actual misspellings.
Geoff
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Geoff Miller + + + + + + + + Sun Microsystems
geo...@purplehaze.EBay.sun.com + + + + + + + + Milpitas, California
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Stephanie da Silva
>
> In Texas I used to wonder why there were signs saying "Drive Friendly" all
> along the highway, until I noticed that a panel could be folded down to make
> the sign read "WARNING: ICY ROAD" or some such message during appropriate
> weather conditions.
Actually, they say, "Watch For Ice On Bridges."
If you'll notice, they're always placed right before an overpass. It's
because down here in parts of the Sunny South, inclement weather is not
as frequent as it up in the vast frozen lands of the North, so a lot of
people aren't aware of how fast an overpass can freeze over.
Anyhow, they don't say "Drive Friendly" anymore. They now have the "Don't
Mess With Texas" logo on them.
(That's the motto for a very successful anti-litter campaign).
--
Stephanie da Silva Taronga Park -- (713) 568-0480
ari...@taronga.hackercorp.com Houston, Texas
ari...@hackercorp.com (Not the zoo... my Unix system...)
Dan Hartung
My favorite sign was seen in Sweden, leading to the back entrance of
a factory.
^
|
GODS |
|
Of course, in Swedish, "Gods" means "Goods" ....
--
Daniel A. Hartung | "What's the difference anyway, between being
dhar...@chinet.chi.il.us | safe and being rad, the joke's on us, we've
Birch Grove Software | all been had." -- John Wesley Harding
-----------FoxPro Programmer Looking For Work--------------
Vince Gibboni; x6220
things every day on the hellish Marblehead to Lowell commute, I
feel obligated to add that they seem to be mostly used at pedestrian
crossings where they stay flashing green unless some waiting pedestrian
pushes the little button which makes them turn red. (I have, by the
way, actually personally witnessed times when the fact the light turned
red has prevented someone from driving through it.)
Vince "so many pedestrians, so little time" Gibboni
"I'll give you a coloring book, you can draw outside the lines."
- Too Much Joy
David Esan
>saying "bridge freezes before road"? Is this like hot water freezing
>before cold water?
How about this:
On a cold day in late fall its raining. The temperature is hovering around
32 degrees. The main road, set in the Earth is wet, and will stay that way
because the ground is still warm from the summer. The bridge, which hangs
in the air, is losing its ambient heat to the cold air and water. Soon the
bridge temperature is below 32 degrees (zero Celsius for you metric freaks).
The rain falling on the bridge freezes, the rain falling on the road melts.
You come drive along at 55 mph on the wet road and hit the ice on the bridge.
Crash, bang, to the moon Alice. With the warning you can remember to drive
more carefully on the now-frozen bridge than the slick road.
David "Native Western NY'er, who likes winter" Esan
Please Note: Our site will be down until 7/1 since we are moving. Have fun.
--
______________________________________________________________________________
| Facts are the enemy of Truth -
--> David Esan d...@moscom.com | Don Quixote de la Mancha
_______________________________________|______________________________________
David Halliwell
>In article <91170.1...@psuvm.psu.edu> E...@psuvm.psu.edu (Jeremy) writes:
>>Re funny road signs..as a furrner, I'd like to know why they have signs
>>saying "bridge freezes before road"? Is this like hot water freezing
>>before cold water?
>
>How about this:
>
>On a cold day in late fall its raining. The temperature is hovering around
>32 degrees. The main road, set in the Earth is wet, and will stay that way
>because the ground is still warm from the summer. The bridge, which hangs
>in the air, is losing its ambient heat to the cold air and water. Soon the
>bridge temperature is below 32 degrees (zero Celsius for you metric freaks).
>The rain falling on the bridge freezes, the rain falling on the road melts.
>You come drive along at 55 mph on the wet road and hit the ice on the bridge.
>Crash, bang, to the moon Alice. With the warning you can remember to drive
>more carefully on the now-frozen bridge than the slick road.
>
thin, and doesn't store much heat, so it cools more quickly than the
road for the same amount of heat extracted; and, the bridge can cool
from both the top and bottom, so heat is more easily removed. Leads
to much cooler temperatures at the bridge surface in comparison to
the road surface. Particularly common at night. (During the day, the
incoming solar energy is in the process of warming things up...)
Also, you don't need rain. If the air is fairly humid, the water
vapour can condense and freeze on the cold bridge. Same principle as
the mirror in the bathroom while you are taking a shower, or
condensation on the insides of windows in the winter. On the bridge, you
can get "black ice" forming: a thin layer of clear ice (looks black
because all you see is road, not ice) which is very difficult to see
(as opposed to white ice, which appears white because of the many
air bubbles contained within it).
Dave Halliwell
W. Scott Cranston
>
>My all-time favorite, seen at various locations in the New York/New Jersey
>area, usually prominently displayed hanging from a traffic light:
>
> "Wait for green light"
>
That's usually put up where the opposing traffic has an early green or a
left-turn arrow so that itchy people don't start moving when they see the
opposing traffic move and in doing so ram into the people making legal
left turns. So this one does have a point.
-scott
--
+---------^> "The Spirit of Massachusetts is the Spirit of America"
| < -Massachusetts Division of Tourism
+-.-----. \ 7 "Right..."
\_\_/ -cran...@cadence.com
Cindy Kandolf
called hell (no kidding):
GODS EXPEDITION
which means "freight office". it was taken down, i'm not sure why. but you
can still find postcard, printed from old negatives, with the sign on.
the station, understandably, is a popular place with engliah-speaking tourists.
imagine buying a one-way ticket to hell....
-cindy kandolf
ci...@solan.unit.no
trondheim, norway
Doug Dougherty
>Those are the least inane of the Mainiac road signs. Others are
>"Dim lights to approaching traffic"
>"Slow down in rain"
>and my all time favorite:
>"Do not straddle lane markings"
>I mean, c'mon, how doltish are those Mainers? I honestly wouldn't be
>surprised to see one that said "Use steering wheel for directional control."
"Use accelerator to advance car's position. Use it a lot going up hills."
--
(Another fine mess brought to you by val...@gsbsun.uchicago.edu)
Jim Stafford
vehicle stickers (that's the Chicago area) had a cautionary message:
"The car to watch is the car behind the car in front of you"
Pretty deep, huh?
jimbo
Phil Gustafson
>In article <14...@ai.cs.utexas.edu> berl...@cs.utexas.edu (Dan Berleant) writes:
>>I hear (from a foaf) that in Massachusetts there are flashing green traffic
>>lights. Is that true? If so, what do they mean -- drive extra fast??
>can cross. No kidding.
I moved from MA quite some time ago, but I remember these lights. They
usually mean "This isn't a regular traffic light that cycles back and
forth. It blinks green till a target, er. pedestrian pushes a button.
Then it turns red and yellow, so you have so stop. So if a pedestrian is
pushing a button, go like Hell."
Of course, in MA those annoying red octagonal signs mean "slow down enough
to shift into second without overreving too badly."
ObLegend:
As an undergrad at MIT, I got to see many trucks clobbered by the 9'8"
clearance at the Memorial Drive / Mass. Ave. underpass.
Allegedly all truck rental places in the area specifically told renters
_not_ to use Mem Drive. Lots ignored the advice.
Allegedly one driver said, "Shit! It happened again!!"
And in reality, the most spectacular crash was a truck filled with eggs.
Yuk.
--
|play: ph...@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG; {ames|pyramid|vsi1}!zorch!phil |
|work: phil@gsi; sgi!gsi!phil | Phil Gustafson |
|1550 Martin Ave., San Jose CA 95126 | 408/286-1749 |
| Perform Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty |
TJ Wood WA3VQJ
> Heh. Last time I visited the old neighborhood, there was a new bridge.
>I guess one bus load of kids didn't get home :)
Maybe a group of readers of a.f.u where marching across and ...
Terry "Plan 9 From Outer Space -- Official Film of a.f.u" Wood
--
INTERNET: t...@unix.cis.pitt.edu BITNET: TJW@PITTVMS CC-NET: 33802::tjw
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This .signature Copyright 1991 by Terry J. Wood. All rights reserved.
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TJ Wood WA3VQJ
> But then again, every light has an
>implied advanced green, since every time the light changes 3-4 left
>turning cars gun their way through the intersection before the oncoming
>traffic can start up.
This is SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) in Pittsburgh. When my spouse
move to "the burgh", there was a near fatal collision at every red light.
Either our cars would nearly hit or the other driver would risk getting
punched out. ;-)
George Carlin used to do a "bit" about drivers and red lights. He claimed
that Americans use: "All of the Green, All of the Yellow and just a piece
of the Red". It's true!
Terry
Stephen Webb
>>"Slow down in rain"
>
There are a number of locations around here with signs that say
"Pedestrians obey your signals"
I've tried, but noone seems to obey mine.
_______
Stephen M. "Just a jump to the left" Webb
Stephen Webb
>
>Re funny road signs..as a furrner, I'd like to know why they have signs
>saying "bridge freezes before road"? Is this like hot water freezing
>before cold water?
>
Bridges freeze before the rest of the road because the wind blowing under them
causes them to be colder (that's what I was told). However why, they DO
ice up before the rest of a highway does. This is especially hazardous on
high-speed highways, especially on sunny days, because of a phenomenon known as
black ice. Every year there are pileups on the major highways around here
because you just can't see the black ice and as you hit the big, curving bridge
that goes from highway to highway you lose control (no traction on a curved
bridge is a Bad Idea).
What tickled me was when, on a road trip to Florida, I noticed these
"Bridge Ices" signs as far south as Daytona. Surely not?
_______
Stephen M. "I've driven in Saskatoon in December" Webb
Rick Kelly
>In article <14...@dog.ee.lbl.gov> twc...@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan) writes:
>>Along this thread of odd or weird road signs, I always remember the
>>handy tips that I see on the Maine Turnpike. Stuff like "Stay Awake",
>>which is, I suppose, a good practice to keep on the road. Like I
>>needed a sign to tell me that. Besides, if I'm falling asleep, how
>>will I see the sign?
>>
>
>Those are the least inane of the Mainiac road signs. Others are
>"Slow down in rain"
>
They put those signs up for people coming up from Massachusetts. They know
that in Mass that it is appropriate to:
"Turn on brights to approaching traffic"
"Speed up when it is raining:
and
"Ignore all lane markings"
Rick Kelly r...@rmkhome.UUCP frog!rmkhome!rmk r...@frog.UUCP
Brian D. Howard
>Alan
It does. I used to drive for a county in a northern state of the US.
During a 'norther', or any other time it was above the freezing
tempature, if it was wet, the road over a river wasn't as slick
as the road over another highway or that of solid ground.
--
"Old age and treachery will overcome youth and talent."
Carl J Lydick
> What tickled me was when, on a road trip to Florida, I noticed these
>"Bridge Ices" signs as far south as Daytona. Surely not?
Well, remember that Challenger was pretty heavily iced going into its fateful
mission. So, yes, it CAN get cold in Florida.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CA...@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL
Cathi A Cook
>In article <1991Jun21.1...@tsltor.uucp>, ste...@tsltor.uucp (Stephen Webb) writes:
>> What tickled me was when, on a road trip to Florida, I noticed these
>>"Bridge Ices" signs as far south as Daytona. Surely not?
>Well, remember that Challenger was pretty heavily iced going into its fateful
>mission. So, yes, it CAN get cold in Florida.
The record low temperature for Miami is 29 F, set in January 1977(?).
On Christmas night 1989, I was in a snowstorm in Sarasota (about 60 miles
south of Tampa.)
Trust me, it does get cold in Florida, just not very often.
>Carl J Lydick
-rocker
Michael Hart
>>My all-time favorite, seen at various locations in the New York/New Jersey
>>area, usually prominently displayed hanging from a traffic light:
>>
>> "Wait for green light"
>>
>That's usually put up where the opposing traffic has an early green or a
>left-turn arrow so that itchy people don't start moving when they see the
>opposing traffic move and in doing so ram into the people making legal
>left turns. So this one does have a point.
Sorry, I disagree.
The whole idea of traffic lights is that you go when they are green, stop
when they are red, and presumably, slow down to a stop when they are yellow.
So, a sign that says "Wait for green light" makes no more sense than
one that says "Stop at red light", or "Don't go backwards down the highway",
or "Driver must sit behind the steering wheel, in the front seat, and
drive the car". Just because people _are_ idiots doesn't make the sign
reasonable.
So there.
--
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Michael G. Hart Internet: ha...@blackjack.dt.navy.mil |
| (no new .sig today) AOL: MikelHart |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Christopher Neufeld
>>>
>>>My all-time favorite, seen at various locations in the New York/New Jersey
>>>area, usually prominently displayed hanging from a traffic light:
>>>
>>> "Wait for green light"
>>>
>
>>That's usually put up where the opposing traffic has an early green or a
>>left-turn arrow so that itchy people don't start moving when they see the
>>opposing traffic move and in doing so ram into the people making legal
>>left turns. So this one does have a point.
>
>Sorry, I disagree.
>
>The whole idea of traffic lights is that you go when they are green, stop
>when they are red, and presumably, slow down to a stop when they are yellow.
>
that they were put there because the neighbouring province, Ontario, has
a law allowing drivers to turn right on red lights if it is safe to do
so, but in Quebec that's illegal. Just a reminder which is posted at
touristy busy intersections where it's difficult to establish when it's
safe to buck the light. Now that I think of it, though, these signs do
seem to clump around places with advanced green signals (flashing green
lights :-) ).
>| Michael G. Hart Internet: ha...@blackjack.dt.navy.mil |
--
Christopher Neufeld....Just a graduate student | If ignorance is bliss
neu...@aurora.physics.utoronto.ca Ad astra | why aren't there more
cneufeld@{pnet91,pro-cco}.cts.com | happy people?
"Don't edit reality for the sake of simplicity" |
Terry Chan
writes:
+[Discussion on Maine and other road signs deleted.]
+
+They put those signs up for people coming up from Massachusetts. They know
+that in Mass that it is appropriate to:
+"Turn on brights to approaching traffic"
+"Speed up when it is raining:
+and
+"Ignore all lane markings"
You forgot, "Pass on Right", "Speed through Rotaries", and "Please make
all turns from two or more lanes away".
I still like "Reverse Curve" on Storrow Drive heading WEST. What is that
anyway?
Terry "Roadie" Chan
--
================================================================================
INTERNET: twc...@lbl.gov BITNET: twc...@lbl.bitnet
"I realize that I'm generalizing here, but as is often the case when I
generalize, I don't care." -- Dave Barry
Andreas Baess
>In a little town I lived in when I was small (okay, it was Waukesha, WI),
>they had both stoplights and stopsigns at some of the intersections. The
>reason being, the traffic volume was so low, they'd just turn off the
>stoplights at night and you were supposed to obey the stopsigns instead.
>Sounds sort of confusing to me.
This is rather usual in Germany. To save electricity stoplights are turned
off during the night. Only on main streets they do their work 24 hours.
Sounds logical to me.
--
Andreas Baess <and...@easix.GUN.de> {tmpmbx,mcshh,smurf,unido}!easix!andreas
Snail-Mail: Fontanestr. 12, D-4044 Kaarst1 Tel.: +49 2101 605652
Brendan Jones
"AVOID WINDSCREEN DAMAGE"
Underneath is another sign:
"CHILDREN AHEAD"
:-)
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Carol Osterbrock
>In article <14...@dog.ee.lbl.gov>, twc...@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan) writes:
>> Along this thread of odd or weird road signs, I always remember the
>
>Children."
>They don't have to warn you about the fast ones...
>--
My favorite is one I saw in San Francisco, at the bottom of a very
long, very steep hill. There was a gold diamond sign that said
"HILL"
Somebody had spray painted on it, "No Shit".
-carol
--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Carol Osterbrock * Such a long, long time to be gone,
car...@cis.ucsc.edu * And a short time to be there...
================================================================================
Tim Walters
southern Bavaria. For background, the pictographic triangular warning
signs for "Slippery When Wet" generally show a car with wiggly tire
tracks behind it. "Slippery When Snowy" shows a snowflake with wiggly
tracks underneath. This sign has a large picture of a frog with wiggly
lines underneath, which (local residents confirmed) means "Slippery
When Frog".
--
Tim Walters, Interleaf uunet!leafusa!walters, wal...@HQ.Ileaf.com
W. Scott Cranston
>>>area, usually prominently displayed hanging from a traffic light:
>>>
>>> "Wait for green light"
>>>
>
>>That's usually put up where the opposing traffic has an early green or a
>>left-turn arrow so that itchy people don't start moving when they see the
>>opposing traffic move and in doing so ram into the people making legal
>>left turns. So this one does have a point.
>
>Sorry, I disagree.
>
>The whole idea of traffic lights is that you go when they are green, stop
>when they are red, and presumably, slow down to a stop when they are yellow.
>
>So, a sign that says "Wait for green light" makes no more sense than
>one that says "Stop at red light", or "Don't go backwards down the highway",
>or "Driver must sit behind the steering wheel, in the front seat, and
>drive the car". Just because people _are_ idiots doesn't make the sign
>reasonable.
>
>So there.
>
You're right, you're right, it doesn't make "sense." But then neither do
96% of the driving habits of most people. It's just sort of a reminder
to people that just because the other side is moving doesn't mean you
can go. It's sort of a "make sure and check the light before going"
reminder. Many times these signs have an additional sign saying something
like "opposing traffic has early green" or something like that.
-wsc
Roger Glover
>In article <14...@dog.ee.lbl.gov>, twc...@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan) writes:
>> Along this thread of odd or weird road signs, I always remember the
>
>The sign I like is the one you see near schools that say, "Slow
>Children."
>They don't have to warn you about the fast ones...
My favorite Steven Wright (slightly obscure U. S. comedian) routine goes
something like this:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Road signs can be so sad.
I always want to cry when I see one of those signs that says
'Slow Children'.
But it's good to see that some of these kids can grow up to be productive
members of society.
Just yesterday I saw a 'Slow Men Working' sign.
-------------------------------------------------------------
============================================================================
Roger Glover DISCLAIMER: CRI does not necessarily share my opinions,
Cray Research, Inc. but that is not my fault.
robin rosenbaum
years ago there was a "low flying pigs" sign near where I lived. The
logo on the sign was a pig strapped under rotor blades. Then a couple
of years ago someone put up a "frog crossing" sign near my father-in-law's
place...and painted green splotches meandering across the road. Both
signs lasted only a few weeks, I think. Dad got some pix of the frog
crossing.
Robin Hilp
Jack Campin
Yorkshire that says only:
DO NOT THROW STONES AT THIS NOTICE
--
-- Jack Campin Computing Science Department, Glasgow University, 17 Lilybank
Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland 041 339 8855 x6854 work 041 556 1878 home
JANET: ja...@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk BANG!net: via mcsun and ukc FAX: 041 330 4913
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Scott Deerwester
> In article <999...@taronga.hackercorp.com> ari...@taronga.hackercorp.com (Stephanie da Silva) writes:
> >In article <14...@dog.ee.lbl.gov>, twc...@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan) writes:
> >> Along this thread of odd or weird road signs, I always remember the
> >
> >The sign I like is the one you see near schools that say, "Slow
> >Children."
> >They don't have to warn you about the fast ones...
>
> My favorite Steven Wright (slightly obscure U. S. comedian) routine goes
> something like this:
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> Road signs can be so sad.
>
> I always want to cry when I see one of those signs that says
> 'Slow Children'.
>
> But it's good to see that some of these kids can grow up to be productive
> members of society.
>
> Just yesterday I saw a 'Slow Men Working' sign.
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
I once was stopped dead in my tracks by the following sign (on a
parking garage in Ann Arbor, should you really care):
STOP
BUILDING
CREWS
After enumerating the first half dozen possible meanings, I stopped
counting.
ObUL: There are a number of companies that have two charters -- the
public one, and a secret government charter. In the event of
nuclear or other disaster, a small department within the company
will spring into action, fulfilling the secret charter
(supplying food to the government, keeping the phone lines up,
...). In exchange for accepting the secret charter, they
(very quietly) receive significant government funding. So...
does any of you work for one of these companies? :-)
--
Scott Deerwester | Internet: sc...@tira.uchicago.edu | ~{P;N,5B~}
Center for Information and | Phone: 312-702-6948 |
Language Studies | 1100 E. 57th, CILS |
University of Chicago | Chicago, IL 60637 |
bill nelson
>Odd signs appear around here (Northwest Oregon) every so often. A few
>years ago there was a "low flying pigs" sign near where I lived. The
>logo on the sign was a pig strapped under rotor blades. Then a couple
Did the pig have a star or badge on it? It may have referred to the
marijuana surveilance flights that were and are still being made.
>of years ago someone put up a "frog crossing" sign near my father-in-law's
>place...and painted green splotches meandering across the road. Both
>signs lasted only a few weeks, I think. Dad got some pix of the frog
>crossing.
Good idea, but a "bananna slug crossing" sign would be more appropriate.
Bill
Rick Kelly
> writes:
>
> +[Discussion on Maine and other road signs deleted.]
> +
> +They put those signs up for people coming up from Massachusetts. They know
> +that in Mass that it is appropriate to:
> +"Turn on brights to approaching traffic"
> +"Speed up when it is raining:
> +and
> +"Ignore all lane markings"
>
>You forgot, "Pass on Right", "Speed through Rotaries", and "Please make
>all turns from two or more lanes away".
"Pass on Right" is actually legal. It was legalized back in the early
1970's.
>I still like "Reverse Curve" on Storrow Drive heading WEST. What is that
>anyway?
I think "Reverse Curve" is the same as "Ignore all lane markings".
>Terry "Roadie" Chan
Mark Eckenwiler
>
>I once was stopped dead in my tracks by the following sign (on a
>parking garage in Ann Arbor, should you really care):
>
> STOP
> BUILDING
> CREWS
>
>After enumerating the first half dozen possible meanings, I stopped
>counting.
It's not a road sign, but the following headline (seen in Ireland a
few years back) offers similarly multitudinous interpretations:
"SWOP BABIES TEST DOUBT"
ObUF: If you call 800-424-9090, you get the President's sound-bite of
the day.
--
Bula vinaka, beachside.
Mark Eckenwiler e...@panix.com ...!cmcl2!panix!eck
Jay Geertsen
> We've got these signs in Montreal too. I was under the impression that
> they were put there because the neighbouring province, Ontario, has a
> law allowing drivers to turn right on red lights if it is safe to do
> so, but in Quebec that's illegal. Just a reminder which is posted at
> touristy busy intersections where it's difficult to establish when
> it's safe to buck the light.
The signs I've seen for that situation are worded:
NO TURN ON RED
...or something like that. I think that wording is more specific and
makes a whole lot more sense for that situation than "Wait for green
light" does.
- Jay Geertsen
robin rosenbaum
Portable orange sign, seen on a road where the county is taking surveys:
CAUTION
SURLY
CREW
And the road sign immortalized in a Garfield-and-Odie poster:
DIP IN ROAD
(How many points to hit?)
ObUL: If you get something in your eye and can't wipe or wash it out,
put a flax seed in your eye. The substance on the surface of the
seed turns into a mucus that gathers up the "foreign object" and
takes it out of your eye when you get the seed out.
Related UL: always rub toward the center of your eye(lid)s, not the
corners or edges. Rubbing outwards can push whatever you're
rubbing about back behind your eyes, where it will stay
and do major damage.
Robin "Better yet, use an eye cup" Hilp
Farshid Guilak
>ObUF: If you call 800-424-9090, you get the President's sound-bite of
>the day.
Nope. Nobody answers. Mark this one "F" on the FAQ list.
Farsh
Ted Nolan
>ca...@sol1.gps.caltech.edu (Carl J Lydick) writes:
>
>>In article <1991Jun21.1...@tsltor.uucp>, ste...@tsltor.uucp (Stephen Webb) writes:
>>> What tickled me was when, on a road trip to Florida, I noticed these
>>>"Bridge Ices" signs as far south as Daytona. Surely not?
>
>On Christmas night 1989, I was in a snowstorm in Sarasota (about 60 miles
>south of Tampa.)
>
>Trust me, it does get cold in Florida, just not very often.
>
I was in the same snow storm (though I remember it a day or so before
Christmas). We were snowed in for two nights in a Holiday Inn (irony) in
Brunswick GA (and darned glad to finally find a room). I-95 was closed
going south, and on the news we saw bridges iced over in Jacksonville,
totally paralyzing the city. (The bridge to Amelia Island, where we were
headed was closed too, even if we could have handled I-95..) When we
finally got to my Aunt's house in Fernandina, we were just in time for
her pipes to freeze and burst, and there was a White Christmas for the
first time in 100 years.
Yes, it gets cold in Fla!
Ted Nolan
t...@usasoc.soc.mil