Why are Stop Signs Red? In 1915, the first Stop sign was installed in Detroit. It was a white sign with black writing. It wasn't until 1954 that red stop signs became the law of the...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

In 1915, the first Stop sign was installed in Detroit. It was a white sign with black writing. It wasn't until 1954 that red stop signs became the law of the land. Before that, they were yellow. Why not red. They didn't have good red paint! It faded too quickly.

Interesting article and interesting video.

https://jalopnik.com/heres-why-stop-signs-are-red-1819456333

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

I have a yellow one I got off a job. In my garage

Keldon Loc: Yukon, B.C.

Another interesting tid-bit: Although the English word "STOP" is used almost globally, including throughout France, in Quebec and Canada's National Parks they use the French word "Arrete."
Well, I thought it was interesting.

lukevaliant Loc: gloucester city,n. j.

i remember yellow stop signs when i was a kid

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Keldon wrote:

Another interesting tid-bit: Although the English word "STOP" is used almost globally, including throughout France, in Quebec and Canada's National Parks they use the French word "Arrete."
Well, I thought it was interesting.

The French Canadians have groups who are more French than the French and insist that the French language be kept pure (read old fashioned) and allow no words from other languages and no "new" French words. They even tried to force pilots and air traffic controllers to use their version of French at airports. The International Pilots Union killed that by just telling them they would refuse to fly into those airports, that included the French pilots. English is the international language for pilots and controllers and they wanted to keep it that way for the sake of communications and safety.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

robertjerl wrote:

The French Canadians have groups who are more Fren... (show quote)

Unfortunately, many foreign pilots do not speak very good English.

Leica User Loc: Western North Carolina

jerryc41 wrote:

Unfortunately, many foreign pilots do not speak very good English.

Actually, that is not true. English has been the required standard for all trunk carriers since 2008 and all pilots and "flying crew" have been required to be proficient in English since 2010. They have to pass a written and oral exam in English or they do not fly. The only exception to that is for small regional airports around the world and private pilots using those facilities.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/761307/English-to-become-compulsory-for-pilots.html

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Leica User wrote:

Actually, that is not true. English has been the required standard for all trunk carriers since 2008 and all pilots and "flying crew" have been required to be proficient in English since 2010. They have to pass a written and oral exam in English or they do not fly. The only exception to that is for small regional airports around the world and private pilots using those facilities.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/761307/English-to-become-compulsory-for-pilots.html

True, but it's also true that many foreign pilots either don't speak or understand English well enough to avoid confusion. I've watched a lot of air crash investigation videos, and poor communication and misunderstanding can be a big problem. Until recently, Russian pilots used different terminology, and that was a real problem.

1Feathercrest Loc: NEPA

In Latin countries you will see the stop sign with "Alto" on it (in place of "stop"). I never questioned why.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

1Feathercrest wrote:

In Latin countries you will see the stop sign with "Alto" on it (in place of "stop"). I never questioned why.

And, possibly "Whoa" on the Big Island of Hawaii.

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

Leica User wrote:

They have to pass a written and oral exam in English or they do not fly.

The required English vocabulary is quite limited. When I flew internationally, I used only the common ATC (air traffic control) words/phrases. However, you can have real verbal communications problems for unusual event (e.g. emergencies).
Trivia: When flying to Asia and leaving Russian airspace, instead of the ATC controllers saying the usual "Good day", they would often say "Good luck!" Always wondered what they really meant.😳

Dannj

Keldon wrote:

Another interesting tid-bit: Although the English word "STOP" is used almost globally, including throughout France, in Quebec and Canada's National Parks they use the French word "Arrete."
Well, I thought it was interesting.

It is👍

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

peterg wrote:

The required English vocabulary is quite limited. When I flew internationally, I used only the common ATC (air traffic control) words/phrases. However, you can have real verbal communications problems for unusual event (e.g. emergencies).
Trivia: When flying to Asia and leaving Russian airspace, instead of the ATC controllers saying the usual "Good day", they would often say "Good luck!" Always wondered what they really meant.😳

Right! Anything but standard ATC words and phrasing can cause some pilots problems.

I was surprised to hear about the differences in Russian terminology. I don't recall all the details, but they were substantial.

As for the "Good luck!," I could never understand why nurses said that to me when I was going in for some kind of procedure. Luck? Is that what I'll need to survive this?

whatdat Loc: Del Valle, Tx.

In some Spanish-speaking countries "alto" also means "high". Guess that means if U see two stop signs that means "stop high". Maybe it works in the mountains?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

whatdat wrote:

In some Spanish-speaking countries "alto" also means "high". Guess that means if U see two stop signs that means "stop high". Maybe it works in the mountains?

Yes, language can be confusing. I'm surprised that there are so many identical words in English that have totally different meanings.

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-homonyms.html