# Old geezers - should these signs be changed? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815 "2014-11-16T23:33:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/21 "2014-11-17T05:44:19Z")
Around here, we need a sign that says, “warning: 25-45 year olds crossing a busy street wherever they want, when there’s a crosswalk with great visibility 15 feet away.” ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/22 "2014-11-17T05:44:57Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > There’s a possible need to alert drivers to the type of hazard they might encounter . . . But if you need to have a textual sign underneath saying ‘elderly people’, then the iconic representation of the elderly couple is redundant. [this](http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/10/15/1381855808247/Deer-crossing-sign-008.jpg) sign doesn’t require labelling “Deer”; [this](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02592/crossing_2592541a.jpg) sign apparently doesn’t need to be labelled ‘Children’. > If we were trying for consistency, the elderly people sign either doesn’t require labelling, or it should be replaced with the generic hazard warning sign (an exclamation mark in a red triangle), and labelled ‘Elderly People’ I’m betting that the double sign is because it’s a non-standard sign. Standard signs can be found in the MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices).\* I didn’t do a deep search, but a keyword search did not pull it up. When you put up homebrewed signs, you need more redundancy than if you’re using standard signs. - As with a lot of things, California has a slightly different MUTCD. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/23 "2014-11-18T19:27:12Z")
It’s not the spry, agile, quick-witted geezers that drivers need to be warned about. Just the slow, dim-witted, or disabled ones. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/24 "2014-11-18T19:36:51Z")
Can we get a sign for “Idiot college students who will stop in the middle of the street to text somebody crossing”? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/25 "2014-11-18T19:43:58Z")
Wow, I thought the signs were horrible, but since actual old geezers are happy with them, let 'em stay! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/26 "2014-11-18T20:10:43Z")
Signs for things like children and deer make sense. They’re things that might run into the road unexpectedly. What exactly am I supposed to do with the information that this sign provides? All it forewarns me of is that I might have to wait longer for pedestrians to cross the street than usual. But if there’s a slow, elderly person trying to cross the street, then I already know that because I can see the elderly person. If there isn’t an elderly person trying to cross the street, then I know that I don’t need to worry that one will suddenly appear, because they aren’t fast moving. They aren’t going to burst out the front door of a shop, leap over the foot traffic, and then laboriously inch their way across the zebra crossing. I’d cancel the sign just because it’s a waste of money. It’s not worth even asking about whether the sign is PC or not, because it shouldn’t exist to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/27 "2014-11-18T20:18:48Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > But if you need to have a textual sign underneath saying ‘elderly people’, then the iconic representation of the elderly couple is redundant. [this](http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/10/15/1381855808247/Deer-crossing-sign-008.jpg) sign doesn’t require labelling “Deer”; [this](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02592/crossing_2592541a.jpg) sign apparently doesn’t need to be labelled ‘Children’. First of all, that’s because deer can’t read. Second of all, WTF is wrong with that sign? Why does it look like that deer is prancing or has to pee or something? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/28 "2014-11-18T20:41:40Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > [this](http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/10/15/1381855808247/Deer-crossing-sign-008.jpg) sign doesn’t require labelling “Deer” Actually, yes it does. Looks way more like an elk than a whitetail. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/29 "2014-11-18T21:09:08Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > First of all, that’s because deer can’t read. > Second of all, WTF is wrong with that sign? Why does it look like that deer is prancing or has to pee or something? That’s what the fuckers do! They either bound across the highway, looking kind of like that, OR they stand in the middle of the highway and blink at you (like I saw the other week). ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/30 "2014-11-18T21:23:35Z")
Are you kidding? I love them and I look a lot like the one figure! But I also miss the days when handicapped plates on cars meant you had a handicapped driver/car with modified controls and not just a car getting parking options. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/31 "2014-11-18T22:25:44Z")
I’ve had to wait for far more pokey young adults crossing than for elderly people (or geezers, if you prefer). And from my experience, a younger person is far more likely to suddenly dart in front of you and then slow to a snail’s pace once in your path. Either the sign is unnecessary, or it should be replaced with a standard pedestrian crossing sign. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/32 "2014-11-19T01:07:25Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I’ve had to wait for far more pokey young adults crossing than for elderly people (or geezers, if you prefer). And from my experience, a younger person is far more likely to suddenly dart in front of you and then slow to a snail’s pace once in your path. I’d be OK with a sign showing a graphic of a clueless young twit on a cellphone. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/33 "2014-11-19T01:16:36Z")
It looks like elderly people are also into fisting while they’re crossing the road. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/34 "2014-11-19T01:51:14Z")
I’m 62, close enough to “elderly” that I’d say I fit. There are enough of us with infirmaties that I’d say a little warning is warranted. Besides, if you don’t want us crossing the street, I guess our only alternative is to go back to driving. Do you want THAT? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815/35 "2014-11-20T01:37:15Z")
Not widely known - if there are a noticable number of elderly pedestrians using an intersection, the timing for the pedestrian signal is supposed to be extended to allow more time for crossing. There’s a formula based on the width of the street and anticipated walking speed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-geezers-should-these-signs-be-changed/704815.md?page=1)