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Being Australian, I accidentally rode my bicycle down the entry lane to a German autobahn after seeing a sign with a bike and a circle around it (not through it

Being Australian, I accidentally rode my bicycle down the entry lane to a German autobahn after seeing a sign with a bike and a circle around it (not through it).

sbrother 3y ago
I did the same thing in the Netherlands. And promptly studied the local road signs after that terrifying experience.
- gpvos 3y ago
  You get far by only knowing the main categories: circle with red border is forbidden, blue circle is mandatory, blue square is informational.
rob74 3y ago
White (yellow in some countries) signs with a red circle are always prohibition signs (or speed/weight limits), no matter if there is a bar or not - actually only the "no stopping" and "no parking" signs have bars (two for no stopping). If something is allowed, the sign is white on blue.
- Symbiote 3y ago
  Except in Ireland, where the people deciding on the signs really didn't read the standard. See "Taxi stand" and "Parking": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_signs#Indication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_si...
  - gpvos 3y ago
    Oh wow, that's terribly confusing.
  - gpvos 3y ago
    Actually that parking sign may come from an old German parking sign, see this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39666622 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39666622 .
- planede 3y ago
  Just to nitpick further, white on blue does not mean "allowed". It means "mandated".
  - seszett 3y ago
    To nitpick just a bit further, white on blue means obligatory if it's a circle but just information if it's a rectangle.
    - rob74 3y ago
      ...except if it's the "one way street" sign used in some countries (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way_traffic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way_traffic), which is definitely mandatory.
      - seszett 3y ago
        Well, not really. This sign is an indication that you will not encounter oncoming traffic. The other end of the road will see a "No Entry" sign (red disc with a white horizontal bar) and any side street will get a "mandatory direction" sign (a blue disc with a with circle and a white arrow) that shows which direction is mandatory or a "no turning" sign showing which direction is prohibited. The square blue sign with an arrow is an indication that someone else has mandatory or prohibition signs. For example here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/PwAYqUffz6uPLVZW6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/PwAYqUffz6uPLVZW6 you can see a "no right turn", a "one-way traffic" sign, and a "no entry" sign (all saying "except bikes"). The "one-way traffic" is definitely informative, it would be a disc otherwise. Now, I'm used to France, Belgium and the UK but looking at this chart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_signs#Special_regulations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_si... it seems like it's less universal than I thought. Using just a rectangle with an arrow when coming from a side street rather than a circle makes no sense to me unless there are also no entry/no right turn/mandatory left turn signs as well.
      - planede 3y ago
        That's an interesting example, as white arrow/arrows on blue in circle also exists, which limits (or otherwise indicates) the directions you can continue. The one-way traffic sign does fit in, but most commonly you see it in situations where it's actually just informational, like the entrance of a road. In this case it doesn't limit you in any way, it's not like you have to enter that road. You will see a no entry sign on the other side of the intersection anyway, which does limit you. But it does inform you that you shouldn't expect oncoming traffic. The horizontal one-way road sign is less common, and is often used in T-junctions. There it arguably does double duty.
bombcar 3y ago
As an American kid, I didn't understand some of the signs in this Lego set: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6315-1 https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6315... - and they had already modified it somewhat to make it more clear. The "two cars next to each other" was always a perpetual mystery as to where I should put it.

Being Australian, I accidentally rode my bicycle down the entry lane to a German autobahn after seeing a sign with a bike and a circle around it (not through it).

sbrother 3y ago

I did the same thing in the Netherlands. And promptly studied the local road signs after that terrifying experience.

gpvos 3y ago
You get far by only knowing the main categories: circle with red border is forbidden, blue circle is mandatory, blue square is informational.

rob74 3y ago

White (yellow in some countries) signs with a red circle are always prohibition signs (or speed/weight limits), no matter if there is a bar or not - actually only the "no stopping" and "no parking" signs have bars (two for no stopping). If something is allowed, the sign is white on blue.

Symbiote 3y ago
Except in Ireland, where the people deciding on the signs really didn't read the standard. See "Taxi stand" and "Parking": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_signs#Indication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_si...
- gpvos 3y ago
  Oh wow, that's terribly confusing.
- gpvos 3y ago
  Actually that parking sign may come from an old German parking sign, see this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39666622 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39666622 .
planede 3y ago
Just to nitpick further, white on blue does not mean "allowed". It means "mandated".
- seszett 3y ago
  To nitpick just a bit further, white on blue means obligatory if it's a circle but just information if it's a rectangle.
  - rob74 3y ago
    ...except if it's the "one way street" sign used in some countries (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way_traffic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way_traffic), which is definitely mandatory.
    - seszett 3y ago
      Well, not really. This sign is an indication that you will not encounter oncoming traffic. The other end of the road will see a "No Entry" sign (red disc with a white horizontal bar) and any side street will get a "mandatory direction" sign (a blue disc with a with circle and a white arrow) that shows which direction is mandatory or a "no turning" sign showing which direction is prohibited. The square blue sign with an arrow is an indication that someone else has mandatory or prohibition signs. For example here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/PwAYqUffz6uPLVZW6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/PwAYqUffz6uPLVZW6 you can see a "no right turn", a "one-way traffic" sign, and a "no entry" sign (all saying "except bikes"). The "one-way traffic" is definitely informative, it would be a disc otherwise. Now, I'm used to France, Belgium and the UK but looking at this chart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_signs#Special_regulations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_si... it seems like it's less universal than I thought. Using just a rectangle with an arrow when coming from a side street rather than a circle makes no sense to me unless there are also no entry/no right turn/mandatory left turn signs as well.
    - planede 3y ago
      That's an interesting example, as white arrow/arrows on blue in circle also exists, which limits (or otherwise indicates) the directions you can continue. The one-way traffic sign does fit in, but most commonly you see it in situations where it's actually just informational, like the entrance of a road. In this case it doesn't limit you in any way, it's not like you have to enter that road. You will see a no entry sign on the other side of the intersection anyway, which does limit you. But it does inform you that you shouldn't expect oncoming traffic. The horizontal one-way road sign is less common, and is often used in T-junctions. There it arguably does double duty.

bombcar 3y ago

As an American kid, I didn't understand some of the signs in this Lego set: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6315-1 https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6315... - and they had already modified it somewhat to make it more clear. The "two cars next to each other" was always a perpetual mystery as to where I should put it.