# AHEAD STOP: do drivers really read from bottom to top?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahead-stop-do-drivers-really-read-from-bottom-to-top/511072>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 22, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahead-stop-do-drivers-really-read-from-bottom-to-top/511072 "2009-09-22T13:02:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahead-stop-do-drivers-really-read-from-bottom-to-top/511072/21 "2009-09-23T15:03:53Z")

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> [@KneadToKnow](#):
>
> What if traffic is heavy enough that you can only read one word at a time?

> [@Serenata67](#):
>
> I’ve noticed them, too. There are quite a few on the toll road on the way to my parents house in Illinois. I always read them from top down, unless I’m in bumper to bumper traffic and can only SEE one word at a time.

If traffic is so heavy, how much danger is there that a stop sign will suddenly sneak up on you?

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahead-stop-do-drivers-really-read-from-bottom-to-top/511072/22 "2009-09-23T15:23:26Z")

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I never realized you were supposed to read them from the bottom up. And I’ve seen versions of all the signs mentioned in this thread (that aren’t local specific) written top-bottom.

I wonder if the reason they work better isn’t because people read the bottom before the top, but because they are written oddly. They parse as being oddly written, so it catches your attention. If so, then it would be likely that, as they become more popular, the advantage would be lost.

I’m personally a bigger fan of pictures and obvious symbols.

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahead-stop-do-drivers-really-read-from-bottom-to-top/511072/23 "2009-09-23T15:46:43Z")

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> [@Rhodes](#):
>
> If traffic is so heavy, how much danger is there that a stop sign will suddenly sneak up on you?

True, but the information may be relevant for other warnings. This feature (that you still see the leading word first when traffic obscures the rest) may be as much of the rationale as studies like the one I mentioned earlier. I DID find it surprising that that study wound up with the results it did - that the backwards presentation was more quickly perceived when messages were painted directly on the roadway rather than overhead.

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