- These are everywhere along our roadways,
seldom seen though,
is proven by upgrading drivers,
who've had their license for some time
and then get into a commercial vehicle.
And you ask them what the last road sign was that they saw
and they really can't tell you.
So today we're going to tell you about traffic signs,
the very information you need to drive safer and smarter.
Stick around, we'll be right back with that information.
(upbeat music)
So, today we're talking about road signs
and sarcastically, I said that unfortunately,
people don't pay attention to road signs
as much as they should.
And if you want to become a safer, smarter driver,
and drive more defensively, take more note,
this will make you a better driver overall.
So, traffic signs convey information in three ways,
the shape of the sign, the color,
and the words or symbols they're on.
So, regulatory signs as a rule are rectangular in shape
and white background with black lettering or symbols.
These are construction signs,
and construction signs are orange background,
usually diamond in shape, and black lettering,
and symbols on them.
Road sign classifications,
regulatory signs, school signs.
The school signs are kind of all over the place,
in terms of a classification of signs.
They're not consistent like other signs are.
Cautionary signs, which give you a warning,
give you a suggestion of what you should do on the roadway,
and object marker signs,
which are probably the most prolific signs
along the roadway.
Once I point out object marker signs,
you'll see these things absolutely everywhere
along the roadways.
So, object marker signs, as I was just talking about,
so, they populate just about everywhere
and they mark fixed objects along the roadway.
So, the ends of bridge abutment.
On concrete islands, when you're turning right,
there's going to be one there
that's going to tell you to go left and right.
And these are important if you start towing a trailer,
you start driving a pickup truck, a bigger vehicle,
you're going to have to pay attention to these things
because you don't want to be driving into fixed objects
when you're driving your vehicle.
When you're thinking of an object marker sign,
you can see the hash marks on there.
Think of pouring a kettle of water on it
and when the side that the water pours off is the side
that you need to pass on for safety.
So, new video this week,
driving lesson with Kaillah, check out that video.
We were working on two-way stops with Kaillah
and getting her ready for her driver's test.
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Regulatory signs, root word of regulatory is regulation,
which means it's the law and you must obey these signs.
And this is one of the reasons that
you will fail a driver's test is because
you did an action contrary to a regulatory sign.
So, stop signs, you didn't come to a complete stop,
speed signs are regulatory signs, railway crossing signs,
if there's a train and you don't slow down,
or you don't stop at the proper distance
from the railway crossing,
that is going to be a failing on your driver's test.
And then for commercial vehicles, bus drivers,
CDL vehicles, if you go through a brake check,
these two are regulatory signs
and you must stop at the brake check
and do a pre-trip inspection to make sure that
your brakes are working before you proceed down the hill.
Intersection signs, and these are everywhere.
And we know, as traffic professionals,
that more than 40% of crashes happen at intersections.
So, these are also signs that
you should be taking note of
as you're driving along the roadways,
conventional intersections, T intersections,
roundabouts, Y intersections, and the offset intersections
are just some of the cautionary signs
that you will find along the roadways.
This one down here in the bottom is telling you that
there's a lane of traffic as you go around the corner here
so you can just go around the corner.
This one tells you that the road ends,
it's the T intersection.
And this one tells you that
you're going to intersect with a railway.
So, know that these intersection signs
can potentially save your life
because if you take note that there's an intersection,
you scan the intersection,
map the road users, and then track them,
you're going to be a safer, smarter driver.
Cautionary signs, these are warning signs.
They're not telling you that you must do something.
And you'll see these everywhere,
especially with these curve signs at 45 miles per hour,
which is a suggested speed for the curve.
If you're new and into the area
and you haven't been there before then yes,
do 45 miles an hour.
But once you get accustomed to the area
and you know how fast you can go around that curve,
then you don't necessarily have to do 45 miles an hour.
So, some are relevant and some are not.
So, height signs, if you're driving a larger vehicle,
and the maximum regulation that
you're allowed is 13 feet, six inches in the United States,
or 4.15 meters here in Canada,
and you drive under a bridge that's 11 feet, eight inches,
guess what? You're going to now be driving a convertible.
So, even though this is a cautionary sign,
this is a sign that is absolutely, you must pay attention to
when you're driving a larger commercial vehicle.
And that's the other part that's difficult
when you're learning how to drive is you need to figure out
which one of these are relevant
and which one of these aren't.
Larger vehicles, destination signs, overhead signs
match the speed of the flow of traffic.
Pay attention to road signs when
you're driving larger vehicles
or you're moving to larger vehicles,
especially if you're going to be moving to
driving a pickup truck with a horse trailer,
or those types of things,
it becomes imperative that you pay attention to
the road signs to keep yourself safe
and especially overhead signs because, like I said,
you don't want to turn your vehicle into a convertible.
Lane usage signs, and these are going to tell you
the lane that you're in, whether you can go straight through
or whether you have to turn left,
or whether you have turn right.
And these are over top of the lane
and they're regulatory signs,
and they're a white background, rectangular in shape
with black arrows on them,
and they can tell you that you can go left only,
and then the other lane is left and straight through.
So they tell you what you can do
and what direction you can go
through the intersection in that lane.
Mile marker signs, these are incredibly important
when you're driving along the highways and freeways.
If you learn one thing,
especially if you're driving on interstates and freeways,
and state roads in the US,
figure out what the mile markers mean
and how to use them as a tool for your driving,
because it will keep you safe.
When you're driving along, for example,
and you know that you're going to get off at exit 376,
and you're at 370, you know that
you have six miles up the road,
you're going to get off at your exit.
So, start moving over to the right
in preparation to get off the road,
because you know that in six miles,
you're going to get off the road at exit 376.
So, it can be down along on another sign here
on the side of the road,
as you can see here, or for destination signs
along the interstate over here.
All of these numbers that are along the top here
are going to be the mile marker signs.
The exit number and the mile marker sign
are going to be the same.
Except for the state of New York.
The state of New York likes to be a little bit different
in terms of their mile markers and a few other things.
Their exit numbers don't line up with their mile markers.
However, if you have it plugged into your phone,
your phone will say to you, okay, in two miles,
you're going to take the exit off to the right
and those types of things.
So, these will really help you out in terms of
some of the signs along the interstates and freeways.
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and those types of things.
So if you passed your license in the last couple of weeks,
congratulations on that, all the best.
And if you've got a test coming up this week,
good luck on that.
And remember, pick the best answer,
not necessarily the right answer.
Have a great night.
Bye now.