# Scary signs you have seen. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 8, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277 "2007-05-08T17:38:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/81 "2007-05-09T18:05:35Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] While on the subject of UK road signs, I have always been puzzled by the [slippery road sign](http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1285000/images/_1286984_car.300.jpg). Just how slippery does the road have to be in order for the car’s tyre-tracks to cross over like that? Even a 360-degree spin wouldn’t be able to make that skid pattern… [/QUOTE] I don’t think those tracks cross. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/82 "2007-05-09T18:14:54Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] Oh come on! What is scary about those is the wording. “FART HINDER” Does that mean I had better not fart or does it mean that something will keep me from farting? [/QUOTE] Look at the sign below that one. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/83 "2007-05-09T18:45:44Z")
Several local streets have signs reading “Caution! Road may be under water!”. Duh-- like, how else would someone know? Signs with several variants around the state show a stylized alligator mouth right behind a stick figure, swimming. There may or may not be wording, such as “No Swimming” or, more simply, “Alligators Present”. Leaving one, I assume, to make one’s own decision… (I tell all the tourists “Don’t worry, they’re just like big puppy dogs.”) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/84 "2007-05-09T18:49:47Z")
[QUOTE=CannyDan] Several local streets have signs reading “Caution! Road may be under water!”. Duh-- like, how else would someone know? Signs with several variants around the state show a stylized alligator mouth right behind a stick figure, swimming. There may or may not be wording, such as “No Swimming” or, more simply, “Alligators Present”. Leaving one, I assume, to make one’s own decision… (I tell all the tourists “Don’t worry, they’re just like big puppy dogs.”) [/QUOTE] “Big puppy dogs”… you mean “wolves”? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/85 "2007-05-09T19:11:04Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] “Big puppy dogs”… you mean “wolves”? 🙂 [/QUOTE] Yeah, our Florida subspecies. Short, elongate wolves. With scales. And 70 pointy teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/86 "2007-05-09T19:20:20Z")
[QUOTE=Yookeroo] I don’t think those tracks cross. [/QUOTE] I have often pondered this sign while stuck in traffic. Sometimes it looks like the tracks do cross over, sometimes it looks like it’s a perspective thing and in fact they just swing to the left and then to the right. But I think they are meant to cross, as otherwise there’s a kind of treble jog in the left-hand track and only a double curve in the right one. But it’s one of those weird visual things that just seem to flip from one interpretation to the other as you stare at it. I just love the retro 1950s cars they use on these signs, too. 🙂 [The sign, for those that can’t be bothered to go back for the image link](http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1285000/images/_1286984_car.300.jpg) The [Indian version](http://www.chandigarhtrafficpolice.org/trafficsigns/cautionary_sign/slippery_road.gif), meanwhile, looks to me more like “Caution: angry snakes”… Edit: [this one](http://www.clipartguide.com/_pages/0060-0502-2415-2831.html) certainly has the tracks crossing over, but it only warns of “slipper road”. If you’d only wear proper shoes then this carnage could be avoided :o ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/87 "2007-05-09T19:54:47Z")
I once passed a mortuary, and the side of the building had a sign over one door saying “DELIVERIES” ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/88 "2007-05-09T19:56:48Z")
[This](http://www.roadtripamerica.com/roadside/Falling-Cow.jpg) is my favorite. It’s in the Kern Canyon on the 178, between Bakersfield and Kernville. I laugh every time because, I mean, there have been so many falling cows that they had to put a sign. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/89 "2007-05-09T21:25:26Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] The [Indian version](http://www.chandigarhtrafficpolice.org/trafficsigns/cautionary_sign/slippery_road.gif), meanwhile, looks to me more like “Caution: angry snakes”… [/QUOTE] You got that wrong it means Caution bacon falling from car ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/90 "2007-05-09T21:50:29Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] You got that wrong it means Caution bacon falling from car ahead. [/QUOTE] It could also mean: “Caution–car on top of steam” or “Caution–car with three wheels ahead.” (I mean, what’s with the set of 3 skid marks?) ---
**Author:** ![Kairos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kairos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kairos)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/91 "2007-05-09T21:55:42Z")
Please forgive the hijack, but someone here might know… I visited Canada a couple years ago - specifically, Prince Edward Island. There were often signs on the side of the highway with icons indicating what services were available at a given exit. I recognized the pictograms for gas, lodging, restaurants, etc., but there was also a picture of a spinning wheel on some of those signs. Now, I’m a knitter and spinner, and I am absolutely charmed by the idea that a country might provide signs to indicate to a fiber artist that there might be a yarn shop ahead, but somehow I don’t think that’s what that sign means. What does the spinning wheel indicate? ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/92 "2007-05-09T23:14:35Z")
Spiegel Online has a [series of articles](http://www.spiegel.de/auto/0,1518,k-7065,00.html) on weird signs - most signs don’t need a knowledge of German to understand. sign [on a crocodile farm in South Africa](http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,PB64-SUQ9MTc3OTImbnI9Mg_3_3,00.html) sign [in Zagreb](http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,17863,00.html) sign [at a zoo](http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,PB64-SUQ9MTk1MjgmbnI9NQ_3_3,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/93 "2007-05-09T23:20:59Z")
[QUOTE=tschild] sign [in Zagreb](http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,17863,00.html) [/QUOTE] I’ve seen dogs that were aggressive moochers before, but that really takes the cake. Or is the viewer not being warned to avoid armed dogs looking for handouts? ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/94 "2007-05-09T23:43:48Z")
A sign like this… [http://www.its.dot.gov/JPODOCS/REPTS\_TE/13477\_files/Sec7.0\_Opener.jpg](http://www.its.dot.gov/JPODOCS/REPTS_TE/13477_files/Sec7.0_Opener.jpg) Only with the flashing words ROAD ENDS 100 FEET. And I’m on I 95 heading for Norfolk at 2 AM doing 85 when I see it and totally shit my pants trying to slow down and not flip over…and somewhere some punk kids were having a big laugh about the next fool coming down the road. Bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/95 "2007-05-09T23:48:40Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] While on the subject of UK road signs, I have always been puzzled by the [slippery road sign](http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1285000/images/_1286984_car.300.jpg). Just how slippery does the road have to be in order for the car’s tyre-tracks to cross over like that? Even a 360-degree spin wouldn’t be able to make that skid pattern… [/QUOTE] “Warning: Car may suddenly invert.” If you’re ever driving in the UK, and unexpectedly find yourself in an American-style, driver-on-the-left car, you know they need to put one of those signs there. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/96 "2007-05-10T00:11:47Z")
On our honeymoon, we drove through Texas and saw the traditional sign “Pavement Ends” while doing 75mph on a highway. It was, indeed, true. Pavement ended and we drove for a good hour on gravel (and a prayer). The map indicated highway, of course. Beaches here (in PR) often have the signs “In case of tsunami, run to higher ground”. A bit of fun with signs came on another roadtrip driving north accross the US. Signs went from “Caution, bridges may freeze” to “Bridges freeze”, then to “Bridges freeze before road”. Driving north indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/97 "2007-05-10T00:11:51Z")
[QUOTE=Kairos] Please forgive the hijack, but someone here might know… I visited Canada a couple years ago - specifically, Prince Edward Island. There were often signs on the side of the highway with icons indicating what services were available at a given exit. I recognized the pictograms for gas, lodging, restaurants, etc., but there was also a picture of a spinning wheel on some of those signs. Now, I’m a knitter and spinner, and I am absolutely charmed by the idea that a country might provide signs to indicate to a fiber artist that there might be a yarn shop ahead, but somehow I don’t think that’s what that sign means. What does the spinning wheel indicate? [/QUOTE] I’m from New Brunswick (and I just got back from visiting my family a week ago), and growing up, I remember seeing signs like these all over the place. Unfortunately, I don’t remember what on earth it means. My best guess would be “cheap, kitschy gift shops ahead!”, or, possibly, an historic site that may be of interest? Something Loyalist-y? \*\*matt\_mcl \*\*- he’d know the answer to that one, I’ll bet. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/98 "2007-05-10T00:51:49Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] I’ve seen dogs that were aggressive moochers before, but that really takes the cake. Or is the viewer not being warned to avoid armed dogs looking for handouts? [/QUOTE] Amusingly, the sign doesn’t make any more sense if you can read the page it’s on. The person who found it says, “I saw this traffic sign this summer in Zagreb. Of what it warns, one can only guess.” ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/99 "2007-05-10T01:35:54Z")
I’m not sure if I’d call this scary, but it freaks me out every time I drive past. And makes me giggle. It’s a white sign in the middle of a field alongside highway 64 in Arkansas and reads: PROGENY It all begins with you Seems like an obvious statement to me. Heh. I think there’s an 800 number, but that’s not a call I want to make. -Lil ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277/100 "2007-05-10T01:44:46Z")
I’ve been trying to find a representation online, but I can’t. So I’ll just have to do the best I can with a description. When driving on the St. Lawrence River/Gulf of St. Lawrence coast (actually, if memory serves, around the town of L’Anse Pleureuse) on the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec I saw a sign that showed a huge wave curling over the top of a car. Obviously, it meant “beware of sea waves.” The road at that point is almost at sea level, and at the foot of cliffs. The day I drove that road, the sea was calm, but those signs did have me wondering what could happen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-signs-you-have-seen/403277.md?page=6)