NY wrote:

Symbols are fine - and they are language-independent, but there is an extra
stage where your brain has to work out "what does this symbol depict - WTF
is it?", which is a much harder task than the trivially easy follow-on step
of "what action do I take if I see it".

Standard symbols like (square) || (round red dot) are widely
understood from tape recorders and all similar playing/recording devices.
Likewise road signs - and they are drawn to a standard: every British "bend"
sign is the same as every other one. But less common, more esoteric symbols
are a lot harder.

Indeed they are. I reckon the most misunderstood pair of signs
are "Oncoming vehicles have priority" and "You have priority over
oncoming vehicles", especially amongst workers deploying signs
around road works.

I have seen works protected by identical pairs of signs of either
the above types. This is an example:

https://www.facebook.com/chris.j.dixon.5/posts/10154583887147332

On chatting with the men, at a location (not the one above) which
was signed so as to advise drivers approaching from both
directions that they had priority, they were convinced that they
had done it right, and showed me the comprehensive printout of a
3D layout showing them exactly what they had to do.

Unfortunately, they had failed to appreciate how important it was
to have _precisely_ what the sheet showed, not merely something
similar, because that was all they had on their wagon.

Circles give orders, triangles warn and rectangles inform. There
is, sadly, little understanding of these important distinctions.

"Oncoming vehicles have priority" is circular, "You have priority
over oncoming vehicles" is rectangular. When used correctly,
there should be one of each. They may not be inverted in an
attempt to reverse their meaning.

This reminds me about MOTO service stations. Whilst under
Granada ownership, they decided that they would like to apply
their own house style to their traffic signs, and asked the
relevant Department is this was OK. It seems that they got the
thumbs up.

The result is a rag-bag of signs which in most cases differ
considerably from the obligatory designs for road use. For
instance, the "Give Way" signs are circular. Service stations
can be quite stressful places, and the layouts are not intuitive,
so it is important that signs are clear and unambiguous.

The Department, too late, realised the error of their ways. The
specification for new service stations IIRC clearly requires
traffic signing to be compliant with the same standards that
apply on the roads.

It would be interesting to see what action could be taken against
somebody disregarding one of Moto's traffic signs.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
@ChrisJDixon1

Plant amazing Acers.