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Somewhat related: the “slippery when wet” road sign used in Australia and New Zealand <https://c.stocksy.com/a/jLM400/z9/1039227.jpg https://c.stocksy.com/a/jLM

Somewhat related: the “slippery when wet” road sign used in Australia and New Zealand <https://c.stocksy.com/a/jLM400/z9/1039227.jpg https://c.stocksy.com/a/jLM400/z9/1039227.jpg> doesn’t actually depict two tyre treads crossing over in a physically impossible way, but one tyre tread and the edge of the road. I finally realised this for no apparent reason at the age of 29 when cycling through New Zealand. None of my family had realised this, though we’d certainly talked about the signs before: we’d all just just written it off as a weird design.

function_seven 3y ago
I looked at the image before reading the rest of your comment. My first thought was that the tire tracks crossing each other was supposed to indicate a full rotation of the car. (It’s really slippery, you might spin out!) After reading your comment I still don’t think one of the lines is a road’s edge? Do you know if either interpretation is the official one? EDIT: Just took another look and I see it now. The line near the car’s left tire doesn’t actually align with that tire!
- lloeki 3y ago
  The dramatically spinning car is how I read the sign, especially combined with what appears to be a straight road in the background (although we can't tell if there's a bend afterwards it looks like extremely straight) Easy to clear up (by Australian/NZ folks), do these show up on straightaways? Are they mirrored to indicate which direction the bend is going to be? > The line near the car’s left tire doesn’t actually align with that tire! could be: - pointing to and suggesting the other wheel on the right side, more like materialising an envelope of the skid marks instead of realistic skid marks themselves - stylisation of the overall 180 rotation, emphasising the overall spin out of control movement
  - mkl 3y ago
    (NZ here) The signs don't get mirrored. They could show up on straight roads, but are much more common in places with corners. I've always interpreted it as a cartoony car version of what your legs do when slipping on ice - sliding out from under you in random directions.
xg15 3y ago
The sign makes a lot more sense when you view it this way, even the message is clearer: It's not just warning that you could generally lose control of your car but specifically that you could drive off the road because of that. But yeah, the design makes this very hard to recognise and suggests more the "two crossed tire lines" interpretation which gives this a cartoonish, tongue-in-cheek vibe, which is completely unfitting. Good idea, bad execution I think.
- iainmerrick 3y ago
  The UK has a similar sign. I always read it as the wheels crossing too -- definitely makes much more sense that it’s the kerb! I think the cartoonish feel actually helps, though, as it makes it more memorable.
m_t 3y ago
Similar design on the french version of this sign, but the lines do not cross. https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panneau_de_signalisation_de_chauss%C3%A9e_glissante_en_France https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panneau_de_signalisation_de_...
- Asraelite 3y ago
  Ironically I think this change in design makes it actually impossible, since now both lines appear to be tyre treads and they still come too close together.
  - sen 3y ago
    The treads can come close together if the rear wheels lock up and the car twists/drifts, but the pattern in the sign is still “practically” impossible. Eg I can’t think of any movement a car could realistically do to make that pattern except maybe if the driver pulled the handbrake on then the car was buffeted by a tornado in random directions.
  - iwontberude 3y ago
    We don’t know the perspective or the contours of the illustrated road well enough to say this. I could imagine some perspectives where this actually works out, especially if the tires are causing the vehicle to slide sideways.
euroderf 3y ago
Isn't "slippery when wet" just a reminder for people in dry climates ? When it rains anywhere, the road is always slippery for the first half hour or so because of accumulated car gunk that has to wash off. So if it rains infrequently and briefly, it's not much of an overstatement to flatly say "slippery when wet".
- heavenlyblue 3y ago
  UK has these signs everywhere
  - euroderf 3y ago
    A reminder for people in wet climates too.
- yencabulator 3y ago
  In arid climates, heavily-used roads end up with oily residue on them, and then the first little bit of rain basically makes the road into Spy Hunter[1] oil slicks. The road actually gets less slippery after the first 30 minutes of rain, as the oils get rinsed off. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_Hunter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_Hunter
layer8 3y ago
I thought it was to emphasize how extremely slippery it may be, in a humorous manner, that even your tyres would cross! Much more striking that way IMO.

function_seven 3y ago

I looked at the image before reading the rest of your comment. My first thought was that the tire tracks crossing each other was supposed to indicate a full rotation of the car. (It’s really slippery, you might spin out!) After reading your comment I still don’t think one of the lines is a road’s edge? Do you know if either interpretation is the official one? EDIT: Just took another look and I see it now. The line near the car’s left tire doesn’t actually align with that tire!

lloeki 3y ago
The dramatically spinning car is how I read the sign, especially combined with what appears to be a straight road in the background (although we can't tell if there's a bend afterwards it looks like extremely straight) Easy to clear up (by Australian/NZ folks), do these show up on straightaways? Are they mirrored to indicate which direction the bend is going to be? > The line near the car’s left tire doesn’t actually align with that tire! could be: - pointing to and suggesting the other wheel on the right side, more like materialising an envelope of the skid marks instead of realistic skid marks themselves - stylisation of the overall 180 rotation, emphasising the overall spin out of control movement
- mkl 3y ago
  (NZ here) The signs don't get mirrored. They could show up on straight roads, but are much more common in places with corners. I've always interpreted it as a cartoony car version of what your legs do when slipping on ice - sliding out from under you in random directions.

xg15 3y ago

The sign makes a lot more sense when you view it this way, even the message is clearer: It's not just warning that you could generally lose control of your car but specifically that you could drive off the road because of that. But yeah, the design makes this very hard to recognise and suggests more the "two crossed tire lines" interpretation which gives this a cartoonish, tongue-in-cheek vibe, which is completely unfitting. Good idea, bad execution I think.

iainmerrick 3y ago
The UK has a similar sign. I always read it as the wheels crossing too -- definitely makes much more sense that it’s the kerb! I think the cartoonish feel actually helps, though, as it makes it more memorable.

m_t 3y ago

Similar design on the french version of this sign, but the lines do not cross. https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panneau_de_signalisation_de_chauss%C3%A9e_glissante_en_France https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panneau_de_signalisation_de_...

Asraelite 3y ago
Ironically I think this change in design makes it actually impossible, since now both lines appear to be tyre treads and they still come too close together.
- sen 3y ago
  The treads can come close together if the rear wheels lock up and the car twists/drifts, but the pattern in the sign is still “practically” impossible. Eg I can’t think of any movement a car could realistically do to make that pattern except maybe if the driver pulled the handbrake on then the car was buffeted by a tornado in random directions.
- iwontberude 3y ago
  We don’t know the perspective or the contours of the illustrated road well enough to say this. I could imagine some perspectives where this actually works out, especially if the tires are causing the vehicle to slide sideways.

euroderf 3y ago

Isn't "slippery when wet" just a reminder for people in dry climates ? When it rains anywhere, the road is always slippery for the first half hour or so because of accumulated car gunk that has to wash off. So if it rains infrequently and briefly, it's not much of an overstatement to flatly say "slippery when wet".

heavenlyblue 3y ago
UK has these signs everywhere
- euroderf 3y ago
  A reminder for people in wet climates too.
yencabulator 3y ago
In arid climates, heavily-used roads end up with oily residue on them, and then the first little bit of rain basically makes the road into Spy Hunter[1] oil slicks. The road actually gets less slippery after the first 30 minutes of rain, as the oils get rinsed off. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_Hunter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_Hunter

layer8 3y ago

I thought it was to emphasize how extremely slippery it may be, in a humorous manner, that even your tyres would cross! Much more striking that way IMO.