Is This The Most Confusing Traffic Sign? (Psychology Explains)

Рет қаралды 40,744

2 жыл бұрын

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Is it "Lane One Form" or "Form One Lane? Are there any traffic signs you find particularly confusing? Comment below 👇👇👇
A big thank you to Aradhna Krishna and Alie Caldwell for their time.
Subscribe to Alie's channel Neurotransmissions: / @neurotransmissions
More on Prof. Krishna's work: aradhnakrishna.com/
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We interact with traffic and road signs constantly, though you probably haven't spent much time thinking about them. This is may be because they often guide our behaviour below our conscious awareness. Signs are SUPER important, but traffic signs aren't designed in an inclusive way - those with dyslexia and elderly people take longer to process certain types of signs. So which signs are the worst, most confusing or infuriating? How can traffic sign design be better? At this point, you should really stop reading this description and just watch the video.
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REFERENCES 📚
Crundall & Underwood. (2001). The priming function of road signs. Transportation Research
Young et al. (2018). Distraction and older drivers: an emerging problem? Journal of the Australasian College of Road Safety
Taylor et al. (2016). Reading the situation: The relationship between dyslexia and situational awareness for road sign information. Transportation Research
Tejero et al. (2020). Better read it to me: Benefits of audio versions of variable message signs in drivers with dyslexia. Annals of dyslexia
Cian, Krishna, & Elder. (2015). A sign of things to come: behavioral change through dynamic iconography. Journal of Consumer Research
Eykholt et al. (2018). Robust physical-world attacks on deep learning visual classification. Proceedings of the IEEE conference on computer vision and pattern recognition

Пікірлер: 299

@nickcurto1388 2 жыл бұрын

An argument for reading "Lane one form" bottom to top is that the text is obscured by the car in front of you, preventing top-to-bottom reading. This is true in the video at 0:22. Perhaps these markings could be limited to only two lines of text, read top to bottom, or be visual icons instead. Thanks for the video!

@Tiemewitte 2 жыл бұрын

yeah, I've never seen 'form one lane' written on the road. I would expect there to be arrows on the road indicating where the two lanes merge to. that's also way more useful than 'form one lane' by itself.

@maxgomes2818 2 жыл бұрын

This was my main gripe with the video because I am on busy Atlanta interstates often and the signs saying “exit only 1000 feet” are on the road like that. It’s super helpful to be written “backwards” when it’s bumper to bumper traffic

@daleelery 2 жыл бұрын

Great comment! Some road markings near me say "Stop Ahead" (or read from top to bottom, "Ahead Stop"). In traffic, the operative/action word should be exposed first when traveling behind another car, so the bottom to top approach makes more sense when traveling behind another car, even with a two word instruction.

@Tanrestednready 2 жыл бұрын

@@daleelery that’s what I was thinking too.

@iRedEarth 2 жыл бұрын

Also my thinking. And, as my eyesight gets worse, I'm less likely to see words ahead and be able to read it all at once. I'll likely see words, and read the one that becomes legible first. The closest one.

@hart-of-gold 2 жыл бұрын

Showing the road surface marking on a clear road is removing the reason it is reversed in the first place. There is usually the normal road sign at the roadside for that situation. The road marking are for in heavy, flowing traffic where you're focused more on the area in front of you and may miss the normal sign. The words are revealed one at time from under the car in front and you may not see the whole text block. edit: added flowing

@dommyboysmith 2 жыл бұрын

I understand that intention. But let's be honest. In bumper to bumper traffic you can't see the road between you and the car in front of you. At least not where I live

@ChristAcolyte 2 жыл бұрын

@@dommyboysmith Sounds like you're a bumper hugger. You keep a cars length space even in traffic. If an ambulance shows up, you're supposed to be able to move aside.

@rodrye 2 жыл бұрын

@@dommyboysmith There's a lot of difference between heavy traffic and bumper to bumper. Also, if you can't see the road in front of you, you're too close.

@kilatev 2 жыл бұрын

I'm from Latvia, Europe. Here almost all road signs are just pictograms, and text is very rare. I would be terrified to drive roads with text, as it would increase cognitive load a lot. The worst part with signs here is that very often they are small, like really small, and in many cases they are not visible because they are installed on a side of the road behind trees and road structures. So not only text/color/picture is important, but location of a sign and it size.

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

I think part of the reason Europe has very little text on our road signs might be that we expect more drivers who don’t speak the local language compared to, say, Australia or the USA.

@braincraft 2 жыл бұрын

💯

@sleepy_Dragon 2 жыл бұрын

@@ragnkja The German roadsigns are standardized and the intent (warn, info, forbid, etc.) expressed by form and color. Especially the hierarchy signs (stop and yield) are distinct from all others by their shape. And that was already done in the 1940.

@iprobablyforgotsomething 2 жыл бұрын

Honestly, even with just street signs listing street names in America, they're often too small, poorly positioned too close to trees or too far back from the road, or faded out (or graffitied) and no longer legible. It's a major source of frustration every time I have to drive somewhere new, even before getting into complicate highway signage issues.

@MichaelMcLean85 2 жыл бұрын

In Heavy, Slow moving traffic (i.e. peak hour), you may not be able to see far enough ahead to see all three words on the road, and as the traffic moves, you will see the closest word first, - FORM, then ONE, then LANE.

@WhichDoctor1 2 жыл бұрын

I still think for me my brain would pick up each word one by one, then arrange them in top to bottom order before deciphering the meaning

@mateuscampello 2 жыл бұрын

@@WhichDoctor1 yes, but that's less efficient, possibly even less effective.

@charliedobbie8916 2 жыл бұрын

Note that in the UK the words are written opposite to the US - so whatever argument appears to justify it, other people have made other arguments to justify the opposite.

@MarkDurbin 2 жыл бұрын

The first time I came across 'Xing school' in America, I it took me a while to realise it was 'School Crossing' AFAIK, the road marking in the UK are in read order, although some destinations are abbreviated in lanes but this isn't very common.

@ColinJonesPonder 2 жыл бұрын

The one part of this video that sticks out for me was widely brushed past: how easy it is to completely fool a self driving car!

@braincraft 2 жыл бұрын

Ha, that is a whole other video! 😅

@ahgrieser 2 жыл бұрын

One thing I’ve found is that American road signs use 🚫 over an icon to indicate “this thing not allowed”, eg, no bikes is 🚳. But I think a lot of other countries don’t but the diagonal slash, as in ⭕️. And my brain cannot see a red circle around a bike and think “this means no bikes”, so I just kind of assume it means “caution bikes” or something like that

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

Caution signs are triangular. Prohibition signs are circular with a red border. (Yes, speed limits are prohibition signs.)

@mrgilbe1 2 жыл бұрын

Yep this is the most confusing sign in Europe. I always react to a sign like that as "you MUST do this" then translate it in my forebrain to the opposite of that. I wonder why the standards makers didn't use a diagonal slash?

@jamiehendrix2568 2 жыл бұрын

I feel like I'd see that and go "huh, weird to have a sign that just makes me aware that bikes exist"

@AdrianColley 5 ай бұрын

In Ireland, we started marking bike paths with signs showing a red circle around a black-on-white bicycle icon. Eventually someone realized it meant "bicycles prohibited", and switched officially to the white-on-blue "mandatory" sign. But we didn't replace the old signs.

@12Wp909 2 жыл бұрын

In the Netherlands road design is often used to communicate what speed you have to drive. Generally the smaller and the straighter the road the slower you have to drive. It makes it harder to drive too fast. It’s a more intuitive way of communication, than using only road signs.

@FrolickingWithChelsea 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting, I would have thought it was the other way around. The speed limit is that number because of how the road was built.

@rodrye 2 жыл бұрын

@@FrolickingWithChelsea In some places speed limit is because of how roads had to be built, in other places they're because of what type of area it is. The US does this the absolute worst, wide, flat, straight streets in residential areas. Many newer suburbs in some countries are designed to deliberately use narrow, windy roads in suburban streets because people have to slow down to pass each other, making them much safer for pedestrians. It's no basically a thing to deliberately make roads 'worse' to make them safer. - I think the previous commenter has it the wrong way around when they say the straighter the slower you have to drive. For mixed pedestrian/vehicle areas they also use different road materials / and actually remove many signs to allow people to concentrate only on avoiding people, which is safer and more effective than signs or signals at low (not much faster than walking) speed limits.

@WhichDoctor1 2 жыл бұрын

The oddest road sign for me is the UK "road works" sign. Which is intended to be a stick figure shovelling a pile of earth. But because the pile of earth is essentially a triangle, and the handle of the shovel goes in exactly the right angle with no shovel head visible, it looks exactly like a man trying to open an umbrella. Even after driving for 15+ years that's always the first thing I see when I look at it.

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

Just like the “road narrows” sign looks like a bottle.

@johnmothtech 2 жыл бұрын

@@ragnkja That might be a completely separate issue mate 😂🤣

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

@@johnmothtech Something tells me that your mind went to the same kind of bottle as my sister’s did as a very young child 😁

@brynyard 2 жыл бұрын

Try driving in the US, then you'll appreciate the slight too artistic UK signs a lot afterwards :P (hint: they use a LOT of text, and every state and county has their own designs...)

@MrT------5743 Жыл бұрын

But the question is what would a man opening an umbrella mean? or the road narrows 'bottle' some mentioned. These are road signs not just pictures along the road.

@MilanRegec 2 жыл бұрын

Great study from Prof. Krishna. North American road signs are not as much signs as they are novels stuck on the poles along the roads...

@JosiGold1 2 жыл бұрын

The best road sign for me is the strong crosswinds road sign in Quebec. Caught my attention while driving but spent the rest of the car ride arguing what it meant.

@olivierpeloquin4733 2 жыл бұрын

I also love the slippery roads sign, I always thought it looked like a car wearing flippers

@LieseFury 2 жыл бұрын

looked it up, that looks like the floaty part in a toilet tank

@JosiGold1 2 жыл бұрын

@@LieseFury its hilarious

@JosiGold1 2 жыл бұрын

@@olivierpeloquin4733 now i cant unsee it

@didi0625 2 жыл бұрын

2:50 in europe, danger signs are white (or yellow) triangles with a red border.

@FrolickingWithChelsea 2 жыл бұрын

In my Engineering undergrad, we had entire courses on psychology and design, also know as Human Factors. I loved it, it got me more interested in Psychology. But not all engineers learned this. This course was something that made my program unique, but I think it should be a foundational part of engineering: considering the humans who will interact with your design. One of my professors worked on a project that designed highway signs for the busiest highway in Ontario (and possibly Canada). The project helped to reduce accidents by using arrows for each lane around exits (including arrows with branches for forks in the road), whereas before they just had a small sign that said “this lane exits”.

@sznt8648 2 жыл бұрын

"You probably haven't spent much time actually thinking about road signs." I had to learn ALL existing road signs to pass the written part of the driving license exam. Also, in my country, road markings mean nothing, if they aren't accompanied by a proper road sign, because road markings can be covered by snow, mud, etc, or can fade with time.

@thiagomarques3036 2 жыл бұрын

we all do have to learn them but over time we stop thinking about them

@ChristAcolyte 2 жыл бұрын

@@thiagomarques3036 But you've still learned them and are still subconsciously aware.

@leikamcraft7275 2 жыл бұрын

As someone with Dyslexia I do find signs with a large number of words difficult to understand/read while still paying attention to the road. That said the bottom to top text for road markings has always made sense to me and would be confused if it switched. Lastly love the videos, keep up the awesome work.

@TommiHimberg 2 жыл бұрын

There is a Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals that large parts of the world use (or a variant thereof) that standardises the shapes, colours and symbols in road signs. This originates in European efforts to standardise the singage in the early 1900's when people were starting to cross borders in cars more frequently. Nowadays with all the road traffic across borders it would be impossible to imagine if every country had their own system. Still there are local variants of the signs as well as other road markings, but all signs are recognisable anyway and their placement and other "logic" in the systems are very similar.

@AdrianColley 5 ай бұрын

It doesn't always work. The first time I encountered the "road narrows on right hand side" sign in the US, I thought I understood it, and I was therefore surprised when my lane vanished. They use "road narrows" to mean "lane ends". I mean, technically that's usually why the lane ends.

@JoeBob79569 2 жыл бұрын

Here in Ireland road workers are really over the top with the amount of temporary signs they put up, and they also leave them up for weeks after the roadworks have finished. So most people generally ignore them. But at the same time the idea is still in the back of your mind that _"maybe there is something going on ahead, so I'll be ready, just in case."_ You don't necessarily slow down to the suggested speed, but you still keep an eye out. Road sign psychology is a bit fascinating though, it's almost like your subconscious is keeping an eye on the signs, but it doesn't pass any of the info up to the mainbrain unless it's something important,

@ratamacue0320 2 жыл бұрын

Those road sign place deciders should read the story of The Boy Who Cried "Wolf".

@JoeBob79569 2 жыл бұрын

@@ratamacue0320 Yea, exactly! They'd have about 100 signs for 10 miles, telling you to _"slow down to 50kph or you're gonna die a horrible death"_ and then there's not a single bit of construction being done..

@AdrianColley 5 ай бұрын

The psychological effect of keep-left and keep-right signs in Ireland is fascinating. About 20% are wrong (I particularly like the ones that apparently divert all traffic into a left-turn filter lane). Eventually your brain just starts ignoring them without ever bothering your conscious self with them.

@yllwClusterduck 2 жыл бұрын

In Michigan we have deer crossing signs. I am sure in other places where deer aren't so prominent, there are other animal crossing signs for their local wildlife. I saw an alligator sign in Florida.

@Bulhbluhbuy 2 жыл бұрын

Canada pretty famously has moose!

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

@@Bulhbluhbuy I believe every country the Taiga crosses has moose signs. Norway certainly does.

@blondangel79 2 жыл бұрын

I'm currently in Florida on vacation and where the highway we're on meets another highway, there are two one way signs (one closer to us the other across the way) that point in opposite directions. I sat at the sign looking back and forth for about a minute before noticing quite a distance away there was a concrete divider and the signs were for each side.

@AdrianColley 5 ай бұрын

Clearly, there's a very specific IQ range that the road designers are anticipating.

@MaxxEastick 2 жыл бұрын

Notice the train signs, especially in Victoria, Australia. They are images of old steam trains, which you don't see much of any more. But I figure this is because a silhouette of a modern train may not look interesting enough to know it is a train sign.

@orsettomorbido 2 жыл бұрын

I find fascinating that I read Lane One Form, but I simply knew what I should do, lmao. Like I read it correctly XD

@TheBeccabus 2 жыл бұрын

We used to shout "Lane one form!" In the car as kids, because that's how we read it and found it hilarious 🤣

@alternativeduck9920 2 жыл бұрын

"Lane Bike" and "Ahead Stop" are two pavement markings I come across frequently. Despite that I know how they're supposed to be read, I always read them as "Lane Bike" and "Ahead Stop".

@AdrianColley 5 ай бұрын

"Turn Left No" is my bugbear. "What happened to the W?"

@BeckyStern 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome video. Road signs are so fascinating. My favorite is the tippy truck, and the research about the dynamic graphics helps explain why I like it so much.

@braincraft 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@iprobablyforgotsomething 2 жыл бұрын

Poor tippy-truck. Lives frozen in a state of terror. I feel so bad for its imaginary occupants. :' ( . Okay, time to turn off the Feels, my imagination's run away with me again! xD

@ashleyholloway6993 2 жыл бұрын

In Ireland, we have a situation similar to lane one form but for bus lanes. But they are also written in the Irish "Lána Bus". But since it's written bottom to top I always read it as Bus lána, which is basically bus lane

@aqueousone 2 жыл бұрын

I learned what the UK version of the ‘yield’ sign is while leaving the airport in a rental car aided by a more knowledgeable driver who was quick with his horn.

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

Where do you usually drive that they don’t use the normal upside down triangle with a red border?

@JennifervanOverbeeke 2 жыл бұрын

So interesting! Thanks for sharing things I would never think about otherwise!

@fryers23 2 жыл бұрын

I think the UK may also use the same Lane One Form road markings. I do remember seeing a UK Top Gear episode with an interview of the person who set the format for the motorway signs in the UK. It was very interesting to listen to and how she ran into problems with the establishment who wanted all capitals for signs when lower case is easier to read (apparently), which is why the motorway signs in the UK are all lower case. Some 10 years ago (or there abouts) ABC Radio National show, "The Science Show" presented some studies on the volume of road signs and how the number and types of signs were leading to distractions and confusion of the drivers themselves. Finally, I am looking forward to when we can remove all the street signs because the cars can drive themselves having been pre (or even dynamically) programmed with all the environmental knowledge & hazards. Yes, I agree, street signs and their interpretation are interesting.

@Aragorn450 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I remember that episode. It was quite informative and some of the signs they found! Of course I'm sure you can find terrible signs almost anywhere...

@C.I... 2 жыл бұрын

I find the "no motor vehicles" sign in the UK is the most confusing. It is a red circle with a car and a motorbike within it. There is no strikethrough, so if you don't learn it beforehand, it looks like it means "cars and motorbikes only", which is the exact opposite of what it actually means. I think the rest of the signs are excellent though; they were more or less all devised simultaneously in 1965 to conform to a single design language. They use the bestselling car in the UK from the time as the basis of the car silhouette too - the Austin 1100.

@pedroff_1 2 жыл бұрын

Could very easily be "car, motorbike, strikethrough" and it'd have been so clear

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

Circular signs with red borders are always prohibitions. Signs that cancel out prohibition signs are greyed out as well as slashed.

@C.I... 2 жыл бұрын

@@pedroff_1 Exactly! It's particularly strange considering the "no left/right?U turn" signs have strikethroughs. Actually the "no vehicles at all" sign is pretty weird too - it's just a blank white circle with a red ring around it. So unclear that it has to have a small text sign below it wherever it appears lol

@FrostedCreations 2 жыл бұрын

A red circle means "prohibited" though, so if you know the basics you can work it out. I agree it's not intuitive, but I would guess a strike through could reduce comprehension of what the symbols actually are (a car and a bike). It's a mistake to teach/learn speed limit signs as "you can do up to X", in reality they're saying "it is prohibited to do more than X".

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

“Cars and motorcycles only” would be on a blue sign, not a red-bordered sign.

@ToolParabola 2 жыл бұрын

I'm from Germany, and when I was in the US, I noticed that the road signs use a lot more text compared to European road signs. There is even text on signs like "Yield", which do not have text over here. I'm wondering if using less images and more text causes people to take longer to process those signs, since apparently humans process visual cues more quickly. The "lane one form" sign is a particularly good example of a bad sign, since a visual representation of this command could be much easier to understand at a glance. On the other hand, we do love putting up road signs everywhere in Germany, especially inside city centers - we call it "street sign forest" (Schilderwald). A lot of these signs are for information about parking, opening hours, allowed vehicle types, etc., so in most situations less pertinent than a stop sign or a right-of-way sign. I found that a greater number of signs also increases the mental load and makes it easier to overlook a truly important sign.

@martinellis38 2 жыл бұрын

Great video. And as someone who is dyslexic quite pertinent. One thing I wish they do stop writing signs in all upper case. For me, mixed case gives words shape and makes them much faster to read.

@mathyou9 2 жыл бұрын

English speaker/reader here. I've always read road surface markings bottom-to-top without issue (but that's probably because I knew from the get-go that that's how the markings are designed to be read.)

@zombiedad 2 жыл бұрын

My favourite is ‘left turn only’ because when read the other way says ‘only turn left’ still works

@lizdierdorf 2 жыл бұрын

I’m a information designer, and one of my possible thesis themes was road signs in my city (Puebla, Mexico), and road markings were one of the better solution for some traffic issues, based on the movement of the cars. that “lane one form” marking is, in my experience, a good example of the classic “good idea but poor implementation” problem. it would work better and make more sense if each word was much further away from the next; so instead of reading: -lane one form-, you would read: -form-, -one-, -lane-. one of my professors even said that using case-based signing it would make even much more sense. in the same example, not just adjusting the line spacing, but also using lower and upper case may help in reading these road marking. From the design standpoint is not a bad idea, the problem arises when you take into account the political and governmental sides of the issue; things like budgets, providers, applications, etc.

@iprobablyforgotsomething 2 жыл бұрын

Was just thinking that the problem with "lane one form" is that it's grouped too close together on a flat (paper-like) surface without borders between. So my English-reading mind treats it as a single paragraph and does as was taught to do with written words : it reads from the top.

@Stef.Cata051 2 жыл бұрын

As someone who drove both in USA and Europe I can confidently say European road signs are better in many ways

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

European drivers are far more likely to enter an area where they don’t speak the dominant language fluently, so pictograms are absolutely essential.

@charliedobbie8916 2 жыл бұрын

Apart from "Yield", whose design doesn't match anything else and whose function is eternally confusing. They seem to be scattered in the most inappropriate places at times.

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

@@charliedobbie8916 “Stop” is also completely different from any other sign. That’s the point.

@Baggytrousers27 2 жыл бұрын

Someone in my neighbourhood decided to be cheeky with a FORM ONE LANE sign by putting a P and L at the beginning and end of LANE.

@CorvanEssen 2 жыл бұрын

Being red-green colorblind I only realized a couple of years ago that for most people the red color in roadsigns is very bright and works as an alarm.

@JenniferFuss 2 жыл бұрын

The one very easy reason why signs are written bottom to top is, that the top might be blocked by cars. Where then one would to actually wait till they get the last word visible to get the instruction at all.

@batlrar 2 жыл бұрын

I see what you did there, using the "Keep Clear" as priming to read from top to bottom before the "Lane One Form" example, and then defining priming later in the video! I have seen road markings like that before which did make sense, *but* they were spaced much, much farther apart! When it's all together like this, it does seem like one cluster of words to be read as you normally would, but when you see only one word at a time, it's more natural to think of them in the order you encounter them, similar to some of the old timey billboards that give you an "Eat at Joe's" type message over several half mile stretches of desert highway.

@paulwilson269 2 жыл бұрын

I wondered about the Lane One Form until I learnt to drive. Look at how the words are written. They are streqched out. Thus makes 5jem harder to read, exext for a certain point for each word as you approach. This means that as you approach the Lane One Form markings, you are able to read the Form word first, then One and then Lane. So you end up reading it as Form One Lane It is a clever use of an optical illusion.

@B00s3 2 жыл бұрын

You mentioned only seeing the "Lane One Form" in Australia, but it is here in the States as well. I've seen this and similar on the roads in Texas. I use to read them incorrectly as well, but I've gotten use to seeing them so often that I read them in the correct order now. Definitely use to throw me off tho, when words started showing up on the street.

@bullit248 2 жыл бұрын

I first read it as lane one form, but quickly realised its supposed to be form one lane

@Dekku 2 жыл бұрын

Every time I drive thru Casandrino (town near Naples, Italy) to get to work, I read the surface marking at the crossroad as "Drinocasan"

@marcusellby 2 жыл бұрын

Always wanted to learn sign language. Thanks for the video

@davidgustavsson4000 2 жыл бұрын

Sign observation: I'm currently on vacation in India. Pedestrian crossings are so rare here, the only warning sign for it I've seen was accompanied by a short essay. And home in Sweden they are not typically warning signs but blue info signs (unless it's a hidden or otherwise dangerous pedestrian crossing).

@damionlee7658 2 жыл бұрын

I am astounded there is no information for why text road markings are laid out with the text read bottom to top. (It isn't going to be this: "If you're moving quickly it'll be easier if you read it read bottom to top"). The reason to write them this way is because the vehicle ahead covers up words further up the road. Keep in mind this is a road marking (albeit not a particularly good one) directing vehicles in traffic to merge into one lane, you are likely to encounter it with a vehicle ahead, and so you will see the words appear from under the vehicle ahead, one at a time: "Form... One... Lane". Having it laid out to be read top to bottom would make it completely useless because you couldn't read the message if you're following another vehicle. I'm curious with the moving signs, they examined whether people saw them quicker and more reliably than static signs, but did they then test the distraction these moving images caused to the driver? Did their simulations include throwing unannounced emergency situations at the drivers comparing the level of good reaction with static signs Vs dynamic signs? Given how easily many people become distracted, and how people often have a tendency to watch dynamic images, I think it is incredibly important to study that aspect. It is no good drivers noticing signs earlier if they cause the driver to become less aware of their surroundings.

@crumpsyjay 2 жыл бұрын

I've always read as lane one form when seen in its entirety, however I also assumed that it is effective when slow moving traffic as each word is revealed sequentially to the following driver and they can then be aware of what's approaching. A merging lane sign might be more beneficial.

@iprobablyforgotsomething 2 жыл бұрын

Seconding just changing it out altogether to a "merge lanes" sign and solving the problem that way.

@feldar 2 жыл бұрын

The form one lane seems a lot clearer to me than some other road markings because there's a good amount of space between them, and you are moving forward over it, so you take the words in one at a time. In the US (or at least the parts I've lived in) there are road markings that are supposed to read "bus only", but they hardly have any space between the words, so it looks like "ONLY BUS", which every time I see it makes me think "There is no Dana, ONLY BUS"

@PhiloSage 2 жыл бұрын

I'm in Virginia and I've seen the "form on lane" in a few spots. Even though the majority of signs are regulated by US DOT there are definitely different traffic signs from state to state.

@jondreauxlaing 2 жыл бұрын

I live in NYC and grew up in NJ; I've definitely seen those "read bottom to top" road markings before out here. Can't for the life of me remember what they said, because I always had trouble reading them. But if get out of the city, you'll definitely see them around.

@promiscuous5761 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you..

@doodlebugia886 2 жыл бұрын

My husband and I are just watching this video. I've know for a long time that my brain is broken but, I guess maybe it's more broken than I thought. ;) I have dyslexia & have never had an issue w/ road signs. As for the signage painted on the roads, it has always felt like common sense to me to read them starting with the first word I'm going to drive over.

@SteveJB 2 жыл бұрын

0:31 Lane One Form. That one is which has bugged me for a long time. Level crossing signage in Brisbane has caught my eye lately. "Do Not Proceed From This Point Until Roadway Ahead Is Clear" black text on white background, next to "Overhead Live Wires", another sign saying "Keep Clear" below a black and yellow criss-cross pattern, "STOP on red signal", "3 tracks", "Rail Crossing Way". That's a lot for a human to process who might be having a great day, might be tired, might be stressed or battling mental health issues, whilst being observant of other driver's behaviour. 8:42 Famous last words :)

@kellen987 2 жыл бұрын

Anyone who is interested in more, there is this tiny channel called Road Guy Rob that covers all kinds of stuff like this

@TyLarson 2 жыл бұрын

Roadsigns with runes were pretty common in nordic and the danelaw in england. There is a really cool evolution of some of these runes into the swedish hobo sign system in the americas.

@ChrisWalshZX 2 жыл бұрын

Definitely "Lane One Form" couldn't understand how it could be anything else until you said it "backwards"!

@lunasophia9002 2 жыл бұрын

Lane one form, clearly. And I appreciate that you have excellent taste in office chairs. :) We do have the backwards (bottom to top) road markings in the US. I can't remember any specifics, but I've seen them and have been very confused about them. A few other thoughts: there's another kind of bad sign, the one that's poorly placed--either facing the wrong way, obscured, or that's placed where it's no longer useful. As a pedestrian who doesn't drive, I've often paid attention to this kind of thing, as kind of an outside observer. And I must be the only person who doesn't do well with visual, non-verbal signs: I'm often flummoxed at what they mean and yearned for explicit, clear wording.

@BobHutton Жыл бұрын

Here in Victoria, Australia speed limit signs with a sign below saying "side road activated" have started appearing on our country highways. I was initially puzzled by them and then presumed they meant the speed limit only applies on the side road. It turns out what they really mean is that the speed limit is triggered by a vehicle approaching on the side road. When there are no vehicles on the side road, the illuminated speed limit sign turns off.

@jennyglover1825 2 жыл бұрын

I read the sign as "Form One Line". I believe I have seen these types of road signs around the central Texas area. Just recently we traveled to Seattle and the road signs need HELP!! We had to do several U-turns because we could not figure out which right exit we needed: "Exit right on the second exit." (It was an exit with another exit...so we needed to take the first exit and then the next one.) Our navigation guide couldn't give us enough information: no exit number, no street name. Also, when we drove through upper New York state, I was flabergasted that the mile markers on the highway do NOT match the exit numbers. I'm very use to the exit number reflecting the mile number.

@anoopramakrishna 2 жыл бұрын

I remember studying in school that red light with higher wavelength has the least dispersion, hence is supposed to be easier to see from a distance.

@paultandy3448 Жыл бұрын

I agree with the commenters about the lettering on the road, that with traffic it makes sense to be painted that way, that was my first thought. But really the most important thing when driving is to 'keep your eyes on the road and your hand upon the wheel'.

@jebus6kryst 2 жыл бұрын

As someone with dyslexia, I read the words on the road as "From One Lane" at first glance.

@SalsadArte 2 жыл бұрын

In my city, one day a few years ago drivers one morning found a puzzling writing on the street: SOTP. 😅 Anyway, you made signs interesting, I would have never thought so of them.

@secretaltruism4174 2 жыл бұрын

I was in Sydney recently and we rented a car. All of a sudden, my friend and I realised how many confusing signs there were. NO LEFT TURN in big letters with tiny text saying 'Except between 7pm and 7am' or NO PARKING but 'Except for...'. it was ridiculous. You could only read the whole sign by the time you'd passed the sign and made your decision. I'm used to Brisbane signs where all the text is big enough to read from far away.

@jpchris96 2 жыл бұрын

The Lane One Form video that she uses at 6:52 is in Newport Vic, Australia, at roughly 479 Melbourne Road. Love to see my local area used in a video that was also filmed in NY! :)

@nonyabusinesd6571 2 жыл бұрын

Weave ahead is our most confusing sign. Would have been interesting to see if RAS would help with the signs. Perhaps a future video on how RAS works and how we can use it to our benefit 🤔

@sethsevaroth 2 жыл бұрын

My first and limited experience with an "exit only" lane was for an offramp that did not have a corresponding on-ramp to get back on to the highway going the same direction of travel. I didn't explore much and for the first couple years of driving I thought that an exit only lane meant that you couldn't get back on the highway, not that the lane itself was only for exiting the highway.

@MathAndComputers 2 жыл бұрын

Worst I've seen was "No climbing cyclist shall dismount on sidewalk". I'm like "Why are there cyclists climbing this fence, and why are they not allowed to dismount?" They probably meant two completely separate things: "No climbing the fence." and "No cycling on the sidewalk." but there was no punctuation or space between them on the sign.

@Authentistic-ism 2 жыл бұрын

my favorite in the US is "Automatic Caution Door" (a circle with the word Caution in the center between the words "Automatic" and "Door")

@1995ssc 2 жыл бұрын

One pair of signs that has always bothered me (hear in the US), both yellow diamonds: "Lane Ends Merge Left" and "Left Lane Ends" Similar words but opposite meanings. Hard to scan quickly for me. I have to take a moment to scan it a second time to take it in it's meaning properly.

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

In Norway, those signs would be purely graphical, or at most have supplemental text. Basically the only words that appear outside of the small supplemental signs are place names (and the word “STOPP”, which I suppose could theoretically have been “STANS”, but I’m sure you can see why they went with the one they did).

@AdrianColley 5 ай бұрын

The yellow diamond isn't technically a sign, because it doesn't direct you to do anything (except maybe "don't hit this sign"). It's an "object marker".

@BenoitStPierre 2 жыл бұрын

Road surface markings are written in reverse order because it can't be assumed that there are no cars on the road and that the whole of the text is visible at the same time. If you are following a car in slow-moving traffic, you may only be able to see one word at a time. In a high-traffic situation, you may also be blocked from seeing the roadside sign if you're on the inner-most lane. By printing the words in this order on the road itself, it allows drivers in the most visually blocked area to still get an important message about merging that they might not get otherwise. It isn't the sole, or even primary, method of communicating the situation.

@ddpwe5269 2 жыл бұрын

I'm pretty sure that form one lane is much more suited for bumper-to-bumper traffic, where you'll only actually see the Form first and then only see One once that car moves far enough forward, rinse repeat.

@ahmadsaeid 2 жыл бұрын

Usually the form one line is expressed in one arrow, split from the back into one straight line, and a curved line, separated by a thin [stripped] line that indicates lanes. Basically SHOWING how to achieve what needs to be done, rather than SAYING what needs to be done.

@iprobablyforgotsomething 2 жыл бұрын

Separate signs above-ground, in a row, reading : . Form One Lane . Makes sense to me, because they are individually comprehended and put in order like a child's first-learner-book in "see Jane run" style. . But flat road markings reading : . Lane One Form . Reads as "lane one form" to me because we're taught to comrehend a paragraph as a single entity and to read top-to-bottom. . It makes my brain try to do as taught, and regard "lane one form" as a whole entity read in order, written on the surface of the paper-substitute of pavement, rather than try and piece together information as I encounter it as I would with clearly separate signs posted above ground rather than on it.

@systemsofthinking 2 жыл бұрын

I remember thinking most of the same things the first time I saw road markings like this when driving in Melb. I wonder about the cognitive load and attention regulation if/when dynamic signs are used at scale. Like the ads in Times Square - there's so much it's just overwhelming and you take nothing in.

@ragnkja 2 жыл бұрын

Part of the reason the ads in Times Square can be so overwhelming is that there are so many of them that the brain doesn’t manage to process the onslaught of stimuli. The same thing happens if there are too many road signs too close together, especially if some of them look like they might contradict each other. The latter actually has a name in Norwegian: “skiltjungel”, which literally means “sign-jungle”.

@Eric_D_6 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I barely go outside since about 2019 but, pretty sure in Colorado, or maybe all of the US, those just say "merge" or have arrows telling one side to merge into the other instead of "lane one form"

@Gormoth1983 2 жыл бұрын

Lane one form! We are used to read from top to botton. Very unfortunate, as the short confussion, will take you mind away from driving.

@TimBowers 2 жыл бұрын

I read it as Lane One Form, then my brain corrected it internally to Form One Lane. If I read it while actually driving, I'd likely not even notice it. Very rarely am I looking directly at the road in front of my car, but instead the cars in front, the signs around them, into the distance to see what's coming up. The only time I find road markings useful is on roundabouts (i.e. I'm in the UK) to know I'm in the correct lane.

@karora 2 жыл бұрын

I can read lettering upside down and backwards without concentrating at all, and I once managed to read a road sign telling me a street was one way as if it was one way for *me* while it was one way in the opposite direction. My wife pointed it out to me before we faced any oncoming traffic, but I've tried to be a lot more careful about that kind of thing ever since.

@LabyrinthMike 2 жыл бұрын

I believe I've seen the road surface markings on Interstate highways. Also, I once visited Vancouver Canada and the stop lights there did something that I didn't expect. Seems like the lights went from red, to yellow, and then a blinking green. (I think it was the green light blinking.) I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was trying to say. So I asked some of the natives and they gave me a blank look and told me they had no idea. It was as if they had never noticed it before. Now, there is a epic sign failure.

@smoguli 2 жыл бұрын

I prefer road signs with pictures rather than those in the US with a lot of text

@ig7157 2 жыл бұрын

I am profoundly dyslexic and every accident i have gotten into as been when I am reading street sign.

@Asoukes 2 жыл бұрын

In NZ we have the same sorta thing with reverse road markings in places, I don't drive so I'm not sure specifically what markings we have. I remember as a kid asking why it was backwards, but it still seemed weird to me.

@punboleh7081 Жыл бұрын

For me it was a toss up between "one lane form" and "one form lane". Not knowing whether it's supposed to be read from the top or the bottom, after a few times I read the centre line first and then went either direction.

@StigDesign 2 жыл бұрын

6:33 Norway :D i like mostly the visual :D

@rodrye 2 жыл бұрын

Once you've seen such a sign more than a couple of times you only need to see 'form' to know what the other words will be anyway. My brain initially read it top to bottom, as is natural for an English speaker, but I was still a child when I first realized what it was supposed to say and have always read it bottom to top since starting driving. Unless signs are particularly unusual or infrequent it could say 'banana' and you'd learn what it means pretty quickly or as part of a driving test. The standard in Australia is for both road markings and a sign, you can read the sign top to bottom, but the road markings are for when your view is obscured by a truck in front of you etc.

@Elfstones3n1 2 жыл бұрын

It took me a very, VERY long time to figure out whether the yellow "Exit Only" signs on the highway meant if-you-are-in-this-lane-a-few-seconds-from-now-you-will-have-no-choice-but-to-exit-the-highway or this-location-only-has-an-exit-off-the-highway-so-if-you-change-your-mind-and-want-to-get-back-on-again-you'll-have-to-drive-to-the-next-entrance/exit-a-few-miles-away.

@NonRoker Жыл бұрын

Text on road is always just one word over here. Makes more sense. Like Stop. Or BUS. Or SLOW.

@closeben 2 жыл бұрын

How does one get a job planning road signs? I’ve just realised this is something I could be quite interested in

@JRusk56 2 жыл бұрын

I had understood that roadsides were supposed to be standardized internationally. I know that there was a push for this. They were supposed to be designed in the way that was easiest to understand. I am surprised that there is still so much difference. I guess traffic patterns and roadways vary so much from country to country that different signs are needed. I agree with you about that One Lane Form. That would have really confused me. I'm glad that you are curious about such things.

@praetorfenix69 2 жыл бұрын

An even worse one I see all the time is "PED FOR STOP". Not only do you have to process that you're supposed to read it bottom to top, but you also have to figure out what the hell "ped" is supposed to mean

@saffodils 2 жыл бұрын

we have "xing ped" over here, luckily always accompanied by better signage higher up XD

@gildedbear5355 2 жыл бұрын

Form one lane works because it's meant to be read in motion and in variable conditions. Essentially you're being given the information temporally rather than all at once. If it's written on the ground then it's probably meant to be read by proximity, near to far, rather than top to bottom. Since all of the words are at the same height. ;)

@JohnnieHougaardNielsen 2 жыл бұрын

In Denmark, text painted on the road is not used much, I suppose that one reason is that "instruction" is most needed when there is a risk of low readability, like wet roads or even snow. The international audience with many languages in Europe is another reason to keep the road novels to a minimum. However, road signs with pictograms can be hard to parse seeing them for the first time without an "introduction". Road design is being increasingly used to make it obvious how we're supposed to drive, instead of just having rules which are not obvious from how the roads are built.

@IceSpoon 2 жыл бұрын

2:03 Vanessa increasing the volume in a hurry so we can hear what the professor is saying is such a Vanessa thing to do

@MissMarilynDarling 2 жыл бұрын

the reason they make it the way they do is because if you are going slowly and many people are murging and it is going slow you can read each of the words as they happen so there would be an explanation of why traffic is moving in one direction or going so slowly :)

@korvatusklok4059 2 жыл бұрын

I've done the lane one form before.

@bruceneeley1724 2 жыл бұрын

Always a fan of Braincaft. I'm sad though the world in the hands of a few willing to destroy our beautiful existence for the sake of their selfish goals. It seems some things never change... why not? Because it is? How should we behave in the face of such tragedy? So many suffering while so many laugh and carry on. Many blessings, sorry for my nonsense. Stay safe, take care, peace always....

@jpturibiomiguel8577 Жыл бұрын

The sign that has frustrated me locally is the "No parking here to corner" sign. I am a bit perplexed on why the meaning so ambiguous. Does it mean to the street corner or to the closest corner by defined in the definition as where 2 edges meet e.g the cornerof the driveway, parking lot, or intersection.? Does the sign mean you can't park to the corner in front of or behind the sign?

@ZOMBIEHEADSHOTKILLER 2 жыл бұрын

you forgot to mention that more important signs, have more sides.( at least in the US) Stop sign - octagon/ 8 sides- High importance Crossing sign - diamond/4 sides- medium importance Slow sign - triangle/ 3 sides - low importance No entrance sign - circle/1 side - minimal importance