# Striped parallelogram sign? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 7, 2013, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856 "2013-07-07T05:58:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/1 "2013-07-07T05:58:34Z")
What kind of sign is a post with a parallelogram attached to the top? The parallelogram is oriented vertically. The sign has fairly wide multicolor horizontal stripes. I’ve seen different color combos. Yellow & green Orange & white Nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/2 "2013-07-07T11:41:22Z")
Pics? Context? I mean, is this a road sign? (Sounds vaguely like a railroad sign?) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/3 "2013-07-07T12:35:01Z")
A picture is worth at least 1001 words. ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/4 "2013-07-07T13:20:46Z")
A location might be helpful as well. Country and state/province at least? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/5 "2013-07-07T14:20:47Z")
Even without context I’d hazard the guess that they’re generic signs for “heads up, you should pay extra attention right here or just past this sign”. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/6 "2013-07-07T14:47:23Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Even without context I’d hazard the guess that they’re generic signs for “heads up, you should pay extra attention right here or just past this sign”. :dubious: Or “While you are distracted by your puzzlement over this cryptic sign, something dangerous might occur”. A generic “heads up”,at least here in Europe, is an exclamation mark within a red triangle. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/7 "2013-07-07T14:49:37Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > :dubious: Or “While you are distracted by your puzzlement over this cryptic sign, something dangerous might occur”. > > A generic “heads up”,at least here in Europe, is an exclamation mark within a red triangle. Which Dopers here would confuse with “Report this post”.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/8 "2013-07-07T14:57:05Z")
Is it a permanent sign? Sounds similar to signs used to mark routes for a traveling show, usually just made of paper and stuck on phone poles. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/9 "2013-07-07T15:02:43Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > :dubious: Or “While you are distracted by your puzzlement over this cryptic sign, something dangerous might occur”. > > A generic “heads up”,at least here in Europe, is an exclamation mark within a red triangle. Sure, but in Norway at least, any generic obstruction, like a speed bump or an odd curb protruding into the road, is marked with black and yellow diagonal stripes: [File:Norwegian-road-sign-906.0H.svg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Norwegian-road-sign-906.0H.svg) ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/10 "2013-07-07T15:03:09Z")
You mean like [this](http://flickr.com/gp/17973031@N02/5698UL)? The orange/white ones mark the location of a buried natural gas line. My WAG about green/yellow would be a gasoline or oil pipeline. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/11 "2013-07-07T16:52:32Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Sure, but in Norway at least, any generic obstruction, like a speed bump or an odd curb protruding into the road, is marked with black and yellow diagonal stripes: [File:Norwegian-road-sign-906.0H.svg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Norwegian-road-sign-906.0H.svg) We use similar in Ontario, with narrower stripes. Fun fact: you pass the sign on the side where the stripes are lowest. Edit: here’s a link to a PDF from Alberta that describes [the same signs](http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/Content/docType233/Production/66hazard_marker_signs.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/12 "2013-07-08T07:03:28Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > You mean like [this](http://flickr.com/gp/17973031@N02/5698UL)? > > The orange/white ones mark the location of a buried natural gas line. My WAG about green/yellow would be a gasoline or oil pipeline. Yes, pretty much like that. It’s off to the side of the road so it’s not traffic related. Would the signs trace the entire pipeline or just mark places where digging or service may be likely? I see them scattered around West Sacramento, CA but haven’t noticed a string of them in a line. Just a lonely sign plunked here and there. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/13 "2013-07-08T07:46:47Z")
Probably just places where they think someone is more likely to apply a back hoe or excavator. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/14 "2013-07-08T20:35:08Z")
It does appear that West Sac has several pipelines, both gas and “hazardous liquid”. You can see where they are [here](https://www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov/PublicViewer/). I don’t know what the rules are for placing the signs, but it does seem to be mainly where someone might need to know the pipe is there. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/15 "2013-07-09T06:14:51Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > It does appear that West Sac has several pipelines, both gas and “hazardous liquid”. You can see where they are [here](https://www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov/PublicViewer/). I don’t know what the rules are for placing the signs, but it does seem to be mainly where someone might need to know the pipe is there. Interesting. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-parallelogram-sign/662856/16 "2013-07-09T10:37:02Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Which Dopers here would confuse with “Report this post”.🙂 Is that meant to be an exclamation mark? On my screen it is just a vertical line within an oddly slanted red triangle.