There are traffic and road signs all around us when we drive. We have become so accustomed to them, that at time we do not even need to read them to understand the message they are trying to portray.
When you are driving in North America, Australia or New Zealand the road signs will typically have the same basic format. Understanding the general formats will help you to understand road signs without taking the time to stop and read them.
When you see a red sign with white text they usually signify forbidden actions. The most common red with white sign is our stop signs.
Stop signs are crucial for our traffic system to work. Even when you feel it is not necessary to make a full and complete stop, doing so is the safest option as you drive.
The majority of signs that are green with white letters are informational signs. These signs usually portray directions, distances and places.
When you are driving on the freeway the exit signs will be green with white lettering. There will also be signs along the freeway that will show you how many more miles it will take on your road to get to the cities that are en route.
Brown signs with white text are usually signs for parks, historic sites, ski areas, forests and campgrounds. These signs are usually found first on the freeway and as you follow them off of the freeway they will guide you to your destination.
A blue background with white text will usually signify rest areas, food, gasoline or petrol, hospitals lodging and other services. Usually before you exit the freeway there will be a blue sign with white text that shows you what services are offered for that specific exit.
These are important signs to take note of because they are often times crucial when you are driving. Knowing where to get gasoline, food and rest are all mandatory if you are taking a long road trip.
If you ever find yourself in an emergency that requires the hospital you will know what to look for. The hospital signs will usually guide you from the freeway to the hospital doors.
A white sign with black text is usually a regulatory traffic sign. Speed limit signs and instructional parking signs will usually be posted in this format.
Warning signs are usually posted with a yellow background and black text or symbols. Some of these signs simply have pictures of something that the driver needs to be cautious about.
In many places in the United States there are yellow diamond shaped signs with a deer jumping. We understand that this means we need to be careful and aware of deer jumping into the road as we are driving.
Drivers in Australia have the same format of a sign, but there is a kangaroo jumping. Australian drivers understand that they need to be cautious of kangaroos jumping into the road.
These yellow and black signs are not always for animals. They may show a sign of children playing or just tell you that there is a school zone ahead.
Whenever temporary traffic work is being done the signs are orange with black letters. These signs usually caution drivers to slow down and be aware of the construction workers working on the street.
Even the traffic cones that are associated with doing traffic work are orange. At times these signs will show you how to navigate through the road work or they will guide you through a detour.
If you live in an area that has started to use an electronic toll collection system, the purple sings signify that certain lanes are restricted to only those people with an account in the toll collection system. These are less common across the United States as a whole, and may be confusing if you run into one in another state.
The electronic toll collection system enables someone that will drive the road frequently to open an account and pay a fee to have easy and quick access to the road. This drastically helps commuters that use congested roads everyday and helps the city fund more traffic work.
There are some signs that have started to fade off of our streets. For example, the black signs with white text have become much rarer.
If you do encounter these signs they will most likely be used for commercial or exempting purposes. At times theses signs do not fall into any specific category and were just called special signs.
Author Resource:-
Tom Selwick has worked as a traffic officer for many years now and recommends these road signs.
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