American reacts to Why US Signs Look Different Than The Rest Of The World’s 

When an American says "it would be nice if we had a universal system for something" it usually means there IS such a universal system but the USA just refuses to use it

When an American says "it would be nice if we had an universal whatever" it usually means "why don't everyone else adopts our standard?" :p

In the UK we are required to learn the road signs, if not, we fail the driving test and that means no licence. America:” I can’t read and you are discriminating by trying to make me! I have rights, you know!” 😂

There are 24 official languages and 3 alphabets in the EU. And that's only for the EU. The average European have a mother tongue, a more or less mastered second language and 1 or 2 more or less broken languages. Far from 24! So do I. I'm glad that I could drive in Greece or Bulgaria (Cyrillic) or elsewhere in the world without having to decipher an alphabet and a language I'm not familiar with.

You don’t have to learn each traffic sign, you just have to learn that the triangle ones represent danger, the round ones represent prohibition or direct order and the rectangular ones are there for information about the road and thereabouts.

The advantage of pictorial signs is that they are faster to process, to understand and are language neutral. Reading text is a slow process and increases risk, not to mention that you have to understand the language.

Road traffic signage in Europe is pretty much standardised with the difference being between miles (UK) as opposed to kilometres in the rest of the countries.

Image-based is faster to read and doesn't require language comprehension (for the most part). Also, the bright colouring and repeating signs makes it harder to miss them.

It is really convenient to have universal signs all over the world. Imagine Europe with US signs, but all in their own language. If you travel from Spain to Denmark, you have to learn Spanish, French, German and Danish first. In the US, English is such a universal language that text-based signs are not a problem. Although it has been proven many times that people recognize and remember pictures better, so the time between seeing a sign and interpreting it is shorter with pictures than it is with text.

I didn't know "learning things" meant "makes things harder"... Yes, we do have to learn the signs. I don't know about the other countries but in France we even have to learn them first, among other things, take a driving theory test, then we're allowed to finally set foot in a car. I guess we can say it's "harder".

To recognize signs in Europe, we learn them for driving licence test to pass

When I started my driving lessons I already knew what all the sign mean. I think this applies to most people, because we grow up with them. Many of them are pretty obvious, and there's a system to it as well. E.g. red triangles are all warning signs, so a red triangle with a pictogram of a train means you'll get hit by a train if you don't pay attention.

A police officer was sitting in his car at a country road, waiting for speeders. He noticed a car passing by very slowly, barely 20 miles per hour. He thinks: "Driving that much too slow is as dangerous as driving too fast, and why are they going that slow? Do they have something to hide?" So he pulls up behind the car and signals them to stop. Insider the car a five little old ladies, staring at him with shocked faces... except for the driver, who asks: "Officer, why do you pull me over? I wasn't speeding." He explains to them that going too slow was the reason for the stop, but the old lady driver doesn't get that: "How could I have been too slow? I was driving almost exactly the speed limits posted on the signs. See... there is one... and it says: 22". The officer laughs and explains that this isn't the speed limit; that sign tells the route number. The lady at the wheel laughs as well, and the officer turns to the other women in the car, who are still sitting there, starting at him with the look of abject terror on their face. "See, ladies," he tries to comfort them "Just a simple misunderstanding. I'm not going to take you to jail." "Oh, officer," says the driver "They aren't worried about you. But we were on Route 144 just a few minutes ago."

A useful point I remember from vexillology (flag science) is that if you have to include text in the image, your design has failed in one of its major basic principles. One of the more important things about flags and signs is that you should be able to glance briefly at it and know what it means (at least if you have acquired a driver's license for cars, motorbikes or similar).

In general, things are invented in in all kinds of countries but usually an American finds a way to make profit of it. Americans usually invents the "commercially viable version" of a prototype invented somewhere else.

From psychology we learn that icons/colors and words are processed differently. Reading and understanding words requires more "brain processing power". Deciphering the meaning of signs with icons and colors is faster: You already know that something is going to be forbidden if you see a round sign with red border, even if you are not yet seeing exactly what it is (as shown by the symbol in the center of the sign). You already know you'll have to pay attention to something when you see a triangle shaped sign with red border. etc. Also, the stop sign has a unique octagon shape so you can identify it from great distance and it can not be confused with any other sign.

Of course we don't use words on road signs. They have to be understood by people who don't speak the language. The only reason the US is getting away with it, is because English is the lingua franca of the west. The road signs still suck, though.

The main reason pictographic signs are superior is because the images are mostly universal. Imagine if, for example, Japan had text based signage, and an American goes on holiday there, and is driving around and comes across this: キャメルクロッシング The American won't know what that says. (I don't either, mainly as I used google translate) but if they saw a sign that had a picture of a Camel in a red triangle or even a yellow diamond, you'd know what it means, "Camel Crossing". Interestingly, "Animal Crossing" is one of the examples of Americans adopting a pictographic system, and they understand it fine.

Norwegian here, our driving test is two parts, one written, and a driving test. In the written test you have to know all the signs, how to navigate a roandabout, when it's legal to pass another car on a two lane road etc. The shape of the signs have meaning too, the triangle signs means danger, like the road is narrowing, or watch up for falling rocks (it'sNorway, that is a thing), the center of the sign depicts what kind of danger with a pictogram. The round signs means either speed limit, no entry, or you cant stop here, our stop signs looks just like in the us, rectangular signs are information signs, like how many kilometers before you reach Oslo, or what direction will eventually take you to Bergen. It's not that complicated, and the signs are pretty much the same all over, and ppl in Europe do drive to other European countries quite frequently. I have been on long roadtrips in the US, and your system works too, it's just different

If you drive it is more easier to recognize a picture than an written text..

"It would be nice if we all had a universal measurement system. Someone needs to invent that. " They did in 1790. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand proposed a system which in broad terms most if the world has adopted - metrication.

I noticed that American road signs are basically just text explanation in English, but the rest of the world uses pictograms to overcome language barrier. Also, general shape is standardized: round with red border, white background and black symbols - prohibition sign, same as prohibition, but triangle shape - warning sign, round shape, blue background with white border or no border, white symbols - prescriptive signs, same as prescriptive, but square or rectangular - informational signs.

Universal distance measurement does exist, it's called the metric system. As far as words go, you should remember America speaks English and is huge. In Europe each country speaks a different language so words would be applicable for a smaller area.

There is already an internationalconvention on road signage, the US and some other countries just chose to ignore it, and go with their "wall of text" signs.

Don't forget as well that we have 27 EU countries and several outside the EU that are all in a driving distance that is less than driving in the same state in the US. Where I live I can drive out of France into Belgium and on the Luxembourg, Germany and even northern Italy in only a few hundred kilometres (shit there is that universal distance system again) ... Now here we have 5 different languages.. Imagine if it was all written in the local language, like 'No Stopping on the Railway Crossing'.. Many foreign travellers would not have a clue, and we'd have zillions of dead foreigners every year..

Given that 24% of the US population are ethnic Spanish or other speakers, doesn't having roadsigns with English texts prejudice those road users? They first have to translate the English sign into their own native tongue before reacting to its warning, thus potentially wasting vital seconds in response time. If the signs were pictorial they would have the same translation to meaning time for all road users and all would react on broadly similar time scales, thereby increasing road safety.

there is a standard measurment system ..everyone uses it except for 3 countries USA is one that does not.

Here in Italy (and in Europe) you have to pass a theoretical test in which a big part consists in signals (the road signals, the pavimets signals and the ones present on vehicles) and their importance between one and the other. For example if in the same location there are 2 different kind of signals, one painted (stop) and the other "put on the road" (to yield), the last one is the one you have to observe to. The fiscal board signal (I don't know how do you call it) put on the road is the most important

Who tf has time to read while driving? Red bordered white triangle means give way, red circle with number means speed limit, full red circle with a white ''minus'' means wrong way. The US of A always had to be different I guess.

Here's my take on it . . just a thought . . Because a lot of American's usually don't travel as much as us they can't see the good of catering for people who don't speak their language for road signs . We in the rest of the world do a lot of travelling and receive a lot of tourist's so we see the sense of a visual sign as opposed to words as a great safety bonus. I also think for the same reason too that we don't have a fraction of the road side bill boards either

It's exactly the other was round, Germany and france react in thr EU. They also could say "We are bigger, why should anyone else tell us what to do?" But they know, that it's Important for the community, and guess what - in long term both Sides profite from it. (For example an european train control system, so trains are able to drive from Norway to Italy without Problems. And this is an big improvement, not just for smaller nations, but also for the big ones). And as you already mentioned: with this attitude, more countries would still use the imperial system, but as we noticed, it's a superior system, we changed to metric and gained from this. It would be stupid, to stay with the old and complicated system, when there is a newer, superior and international well-known and used system, wouldn't it?

According to the Geneva Convention, there is a universal scheme for traffic signs. Europe, Asia, Africa and Mexico agree. 0:55 This is the sign for no stopping and no parking. The American stop sign has been internationally recognized. 2:32 The American sign for no parking corresponds to an international traffic sign, only a P is added. American "give way and yield" signs and the colors of road "traffic lights" correspond to international suggestions. American road signs are English text based. International road signs mostly use uniform characters. This makes it easy to recognize them in different languages.

Funny suicidal fact: US citizens can drive in Europe.

just the fact that you say "how our signs LOOK" and that you didn't even remember they had words on them clearly shows how image based signs are superior

In the UK driving rather than stopping on the 'pavement' is banned, since to us the pavement is what you call the sidewalk. Parking on the pavement (sidewalk - which is defined as when one or more of a parked vehicle's wheels are on the pavement) is not specifically banned in England (yet!) EXCEPT in London where a minimum fine of £65 applies. Elsewhere, however, depending on the circumstances, you could still incur a fixed penalty notice for obstruction (at the discretion of the police).

The main difference? We avoid words - you must be able to understand it, even if you can’t read (yet).

Americans have to label everything with words [education system] whilst the rest of the world uses symbols [same with the gadets in the car].

Signs with symbols are preferred to those with letters for various reasons: reading distracts the driver and at the same time those who cannot read that language cannot understand what is written. If I went to Japan or an Arab country and saw a sign with ideograms or Arabic writing, I wouldn't be able to understand. The same thing goes for pedestrians: if you have an elderly person who has lost their sight and can't see the writing from afar but sees a nice prohibition sign, they understand immediately. The same goes for children who may not know how to read, but recognize a figure.

Road sign language is made to be as universal as possible regardless the language, and if you understand the basic principals it becomes easy. To obtain your drivers licence you need to take a theory test and a practical. In Portugal it takes 28 lessons just for the theory and 32 hours of driving practice and 500 kilometers of road traveled (which should include, whenever possible, two hours of night driving). On your theory exam you are only allowed to fail 1 sign and 2 rules. (not interchangeable). As theory goes you need to know the road signs and the road rules. In the case of conflicting signs and rules occurring simultaneously, there is a hierarchy to determine which one to obey.1st: law enforcement office; 2nd Signals; 3rd rules. There are vertical signs and horizontal signs. The vertical signs have a higher hierarchy than the horizontal and the traffic lights are at the top. The road signs are separated in 4 major categories: information; prohibition, obligation and danger. The information signs are rectangular or with a pointed side for directions and tells you general information such the name of locations, service areas, rest areas, name of the road, services etc... They are usually white with black characters or blue with white caracteres. Prohibition and obligation are round, with the 1st painted red with black caracteres and 2nd blue with white characters. The danger signs are triangular with the vertices pointing up (except the yielding the right of way, that as the vertices pointing down). They are yellow background with black characters. There is one signal that is different from all the others, the stop sign, which is octagonal . The colors of the stop sign are typically red and white. The octagon (eight-sided shape) is red with white letters that say "STOP" inside it.

If I saw a Russian sign I wouldn't pay any attention to it - the best last words ever🤣

I haven't even gone to driving lessons yet, but a good chunk of signs used in traffic? I learned in primary school. It was a required knowledge because as 11yo, we were expected to be independently involved in traffic as pedestrians and cyclists and knowing the signs was important for our own safety.

I like, on the same way as the dietary info on groceries, how they take for granted that US drivers don't know the meaning of road signs, and they write it down lol

here's an idea. Make all drivers learn road signs as part of their diving test. 😉

That's one of the reason why with my French driving license I can virtually drive on the roads of almost every countries in the world, while US citizens have to pass a new permit in each country. For instance, in Japan, while they drive on the other side of the road, I just had to have my license translated into Japan.

" american bubble" 😂😂 i really do love Ryans ironic humor!! 👍👍

His ad transition is so smooth that by the time you realize you're watching ad you've already seen it and it's too late

0:12 Canada: *_whistles nervously_*

Every time I play ATS I have to squint my eyes not to miss some small message that might be written on your signs. Sometimes I even have to bring out camera mode to freeze the game so I can look.

I remember when the UK changed to the European standard, and Dad stuck a plastic label inside our car's windscreen to remind him what the new signs meant. It corresponded with our first camping holiday on the continent, driving around Europe. The pictorial nature of all the signs makes sense given how Europeans drive across borders and through different language zones so often - which also explains why Americans don't see the need for them. But even the shapes of the signs are important: A circle always represents an instruction (such as a speed limit), while a triangle represents a warning. Now I'm living in Canada, most people think I had trouble getting used to driving on the other side of the road - but no, because I worked throughout Europe and in the US, so I'm used to it. My problem comes from simply not seeing road signs (such as speed limits and stop signs) because they don't look like road signs to me. There's more to it than just their shapes (such as the lack of road markings and the placement of the signs, or the layout of traffic lights) but simply driving on the wrong side of the road is an easy switch by comparison. It would be good if America (and Canada) were to get up to speed with the rest of the world and adopt modern ideas on road design (not just standardised, language-independent road signs but good road markings, cats eyes, roundabouts) but I don't see that happening in my lifetime. There are a few UK road signs that have fun alternative meanings, though, such as the warning triangle for road works ahead, which looks like a man having trouble opening an umbrella. Or the one for rough road ahead, which looks like a warning for strapless bikini - maybe a warning to tighten your bra straps. 😂

8:30 that's kinda the point I think: you can just process symbols much quicker than a bunch of text. I also was curious when you said you didn't know some of the road signs. In Europe the drivers license test involves also the street signs.

Images work. The time taken to see an image based sign, process it, understand it and take action (or reject it) is a fraction of the time for a text based sign. Even when the face is obscured with snow, the base shape still works.

Non native English speaker here but I just feel that the English language can get away by explaining something in words with the shortest amount of words vs a lot of other languages.

Funny enough, tough China is not a part of the Vienna agreement, the Chinese road signs still looks very similar to the Vienna ones. This is because the Chinese government used the European system as a model for designing developing the Chinese road traffic system. Till this day, the National emissions standard still reference the European Emissions Standards. The current standard is National 6b, and you guess it, it's similar to Euro 6

I've driven in the US. Road signs are terrible. Often too small and hard to see. And they don't give you any advance warning.

You have to speak English to survive in America. In Europe, there are many nationalities, and people travel across borders a lot more.

I think it's because there is no real driving school or driving school education in the USA where you learn these signs. That's why the traffic signs are written out where there are symbols and signs so that everyone can understand them.

Ford didn't invent the assembly line, the textile industry did, and textiles created the first programmable computer and punched cards too.. Henry Ford simply took cars from one place and assembly lines from another and put them together...

Loving your own country doesn't mean you can't see there are things to improve. I think you do that well. I like America (or the US to be precise), but perhaps not all of the faults, but come on; every country has its ups and downs. Let's focus on the ups.

road signs must not have writing, and must contain graphic messages, not only to allow foreigners to drive safely, but above all because you don't have to slow down to read the sign, you understand how you see it; it is safer even for native English speakers. If I had to read signs that were all similar, but with different writing, but with the same graphic font, I would go crazy

For the most part, Americans can't drive a manual transmission, are shocked to discover that they cannot make a right (or left) turn when the traffic light is red, and are clueless what universal traffic signs mean and say, but it is perfectly okay to rent a car and drive around Europe, where public transportation is efficient and plentiful, and a car is completely unnecessary, for the most part, except for transporting baggage to and from the airport. *shaking my head*

Doing the theory test must be easy in the states. Its pretty hard over here in The Netherlands.

Even though China hasn't signed the deal, most of the signs you see along the highway look like the international ones. Also the few signs like STOP that does use letters are spelled in Cyrillic letters in Cyrillic countries... but they keep the same layout and colours, so it's not that difficult to guess what they mean.

British road signs got a massive overhaul back in the fifties, by couple of graphic designers there is a documentary about it and the the woman is quite well known if you’re geeky great pub quiz question, she was called Margaret Calvert and the chap was called Jock Kinnier. 😊

Simplified : - Triangle signs mean "danger" (like warning a crossroad, warning there can be children, pets or wild animals) - Square signs are indications, something you can do - Circle signs mean you have to do something, its an obligation to do when its blue (like following an arrow in a roundabout), and its forbidden when it is red and white (like speed limit or interdiction for heavy trucks) So first you know what kind of information you are receiving then the pictogram says what it is about

While thinking about it the only words on street signs (apart from street/city names) in Germany would be "Einbahnstraße" which is written in the arrow of a one way street

A lot of people in the comments that didn't get the sarcasm on the "need for a universal system" remark 🙂 We have one sign with a word in sweden, it is a red sign that says STOP, which means... never mind, u all can figure it out 🙂 The STOP sign has an octagon form, the only sign that has that specific form

9:10 I think it's easier to get a driver's license in the US because there are many areas that don't have adequate public transportation. In Europe you have to earn it, which perhaps minimizes the fear of education.

Lots of cars produced in merica, the fed government introduced a 25% "chicken tax" on imports.

In the UK,we now have a written theory test,where we are tested on speed stopping distances,road sign recognition and other road law etc,only after we PASS our theory are,we,allowed to take a rather hard driving test,where the average person has to do it TWICE.

3:10 that's how cars became afFORDable. You're right, man! 😁

I am truly with you. You doubt, that the average american is able to understand the signs and I feel with you that they probably don't. 😆 That's why they say that Americans are allowed to drive and Europeans can.

Why on earth are US road signs like whole novels to read??? You don't have time to concentrate on reading when you are driving

For me one of the biggest advanteges of using pictures instead of words is that the pictures don't distract you as much as words do. In every country you learn that you should not be distracted when driving but in america it is ok if the road signs distract you during driving. Also I think it is easier for people to "read" all the signs if they are pictures, I am not sure but I think in an older video you said that sometimes you can not read all the signs, when there are a lot of them at once, because you are already past them. So I think pictures are much more practical than words.

Love your channel man, greetings from Hungary.

Not only does the US have their own road signs and are holding on to their own measurements... they're also one of like... two countries in the WORLD that uses a different system for their nautical navigation... when basically everywhere in the world has the green sticks on one side and red on the other, the states has it THE OTHER WAY AROUND! I mean... at that point it kinda feels like they're just going "no! I HAVE to be different!"

In the no parking/no stopping sign, blue stands for parking/stopping and red stands for no. Prohibition signs in general have a round shape with a red circle - and many of them have a diagonal line - also in red. The inner circle is usually white (e.g. Sweden and Finland yellow instead) and mostly have an icon in the middle that tells what is prohibited here. No overtaking shows two cars: a black one for the right lane and a red one for the wrong lane. Do not go in case of oncoming traffic has two arrows: a black one down and a red one up. The do not enter sign is entirely red except for a horizontal white (or yellow) bar in the middle. And then there is a general no driving beyond sign that only has the red circle and a blank inside.

The best thing I was taught when learning to drive in the UK is round signs look like an O for obey and triangle signs look like an A for advice.

Thanks Ryan. I learned a lot today. I always assumed that all of Europe had the same road sign system. It turns out that most of the world follows that system, where each symbol can be understood by most nationalities. It dawned on me that maybe the Department purposely (or maybe lobbyists encouraged them) voted against the symbols treaty to maximize the number of American citizens (from the age of 16, before they use public transportation) to pass their driving test to maximize the number of loans being taken out to buy American-built gas-guzzling (on purpose?) cars to maximize the sales of U.S. oil companies at the gas pump. Backroom strategy meetings all in the name of maximum sales and maximum profits. Just food for thought.

"It would be nice to have a universal measurement system" Yeah, it's called the Metric System.

Here's one more: general speed limits don't apply to cycling in germany. You can go "as fast as you want" on your bicycle. In the same way that you can go "as fast as you want" on the motorway, of course. It's limited by the freedom of other participants and natural- and woman-made obstacles.

Funnily enough... The UK now use a mix of French kilograms and American miles, which they also refer to as Imperial measures (for some strange reason). And just look at them. The third greatest country in the world, after Kazakhstan and France.

Cars are the same - US produced cars have control buttons in them with words. Everyone else uses icons

If someone isn't smart enough to memorize some picturized road signs like almost the rest of the world, I would question if that person would be smart enough to operate a vehicle which could easily be turned into a killing machine.

4:22 "...the American Association of State Highway Officials - or AASHO" Please note the small footnote saying "Gesundheit" 😆

Karl Benz, his daughter name was Mercedes Benz after a man named Daimler his daughter was called Mercedes. So now you know how he named his car.

Australia does follow the signage convention for the most part. Many signs switched back in the 1980s. Such as the speed signs to match European signs for more consistency. It is easier to understand a pictogram than text and respond quicker.

In US you assume that all people speak English. How does foreign people get around. The same problem as Jeremy Clarkson mentioned in one of the Top Gear shows, about the buttons in you cars.

You should make a channel poll about how many of your viewers are American, how many European and how many from the rest of the world.

The meatpacking industry of Chicago is believed to be one of the first industrial assembly lines to be utilized in the United States starting in 1867. mass production of weapon manufactures used similar practices sophisticated trigger mechanism for crossbows made of interchangeable parts in China in 201BC The Terracotta Army guarding the Emperor's necropolis is also believed to have been created through the use of standardized molds on an assembly simple mass production techniques were used at the Portsmouth Block Mills in England to make ships' pulley blocks for the Royal Navy in 1803 during US civil war Roughly a million of Springfield Model 1861 Rifle were produced

I remember my first time driving in Canada and merging onto a highway the posted sign read “Squeeze Left.” I was told when Walmart exceeded General Motors as the largest employer in the US, this marked the point when we began consuming more than what we produce. The economy will evolve to where we are simply providing services to one another.

I'm from Europe and when I was a kid we had a traffic-themed board game where you had to guess the meanings of traffic signs (or choose correctly which car goes when at a depicted intersection) and I thought it was so difficult! But now I'm an adult, have no car and no drivers license and I can tell you that you'll learn lots of the signs simply by living here :)

Pavement in UK is the sidewalk...America did NOT invent the car..lol. I think Americans need things spelt out to understand hence the written signs, our road narrows sign gave rise to the expression of bottleneck...we don't really have many stop signs here, it more often says give-way and is painted on the road junction....😊🇬🇧✌

"...Ford. And apparently that's how cars became afFORDable."😅

Signs containing words are easier to memorize, actually you don't need to memorize them to be able to use them. But other world style signs are easier to be noticed and distinguished. As we need less time to read a pictogram tha a word or short sentence.

Not sure what the US driving test is like, but in the UK we now have 2 parts, theory and practical. The theory covers road signs and scanarios, and must be passed before taking the practical driving test. The practical also includes and understanding of the signs and using sat nav as you use the roads

At least the stop signs are the same in most countries. Although the word STOP is sometimes written in another language 😅

Imagine driving in Greece with signs in their alphabet, you'd want to stop at each one and evaluate the equation.

If only there was a universal street sign language. Someone should invent that!

It's the same as the markings on your car knobs and controls, US has words we have symbols, it makes sense due to the 24 official languages and 200 regional languages!

The first sign means "no stopping or parking" in my country. No stopping (when you just stop under a minute to let someone out or "run to the store") would be just one diagonal line, no parking only similar but diagonal is the other side. I assume it's similar in other countries and the video just simplifies it.