Road-signs: Falling Rock Signs in the USA

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Falling Rock Signs in the United States of A.

Mt Rainier, Washington, ix.2001; pict. S. Visser

California HW1, xii.1998;
pict. A. Guët

Black Hills South Dakota, vii.1998;
pict. Baeten & De Dier

Alladin Wyoming, vii.1998;
pict. Baeten & De Dier

Our finds from the US fall apart into three main groups.
The first group is text only. As I told you in Hawaii: better clean your lenses before you hit the road in the US because many warning signs come as text only.

It is, however, reassuring to see how rocks in mainland US seem to behave much better or at least be much better under control. They do not form gangs. The warning mentions only a single ROCK. Our find from Hawaii says multiple ROCKS. They come in flocks if you may believe the panels.

The second group shows a vehicle threatened by (a cloud of) falling stones. The Mt Rainier find is most interesting. It is a kind of transition because there is still text present. Notice the use of the plural rocks and especially the detail in the drawing. We recognize a licence plate, rear lights, and, most peculiar: one of the rocks hits the car and even makes a dent in its roof. Only the driver is missing. For a driver, we have to go to Argentina. If my memory serves me right, is Thailand the only country where the driver also stays behind the wheel when it is raining stones.

Mt Rainier, ix.2001;
pict. S. Visser

Glacier NP, Montana, vii.1998;
pict. Baeten & De Dier

California, ix.2001;
pict. S. Visser

The other signs with cars are less detailed and the stones become smaller. The sign from Glacier NP is remarkable. We are in the northern US and we see a design that is common far to the south in Central America (e.g. Guatemala, Costa Rica). The constellation of the rocks is identical; there are only slight differences in the make of the vehicle.

The third group shows only a cliff with falling stones, without a car nor text. Entirely pictorial warning signs have the major advantage that people not able to read (or understand) the local language still can grab the meaning of the sign.

But there is also a major drawback. Our finds suggest that roadworkers together with the text, or the vehicle, may lose the difference between up and down. Our people on the field on several occasions run into rock-signs mounted upside down (e.g. Cuba, Great Britain, Indonesia, and more).

Yellowstone NP, vii.1998;
pict. Baeten & De Dier

Yellowstone NP, vii.1998;
pict. Baeten & De Dier

Glacier NP, Montana, vii.1998;
pict. Baeten & De Dier

Mission Peak, Fremont, Calif., 2000;
pict. & design R. Fong

Dino Ridge, Morrison, Col., 25.vii.2025;
pict. N. Heerink

This warning sign posted by the city of Fremont (California) near a landslide area is based on the regular pictorial type (same cliff, same boulders) but shows a strong European influence in the design. We recognize the shape and the choice of colours and even the draglines suggesting considerable speed. Look closely and note an extremely rare feature on this type of sign: a bouncing boulder.

More speed and impact in Pakistan or Portugal.

We have reported this very sign from New Zealand. It is a bad design because it fails to convey a clear message. Is it an advice not to knock away stones? An additional text is needed to clarify what it is about: do not climb. The text itself is clear, but is not supported by the drawing. Couldn't America have come up with something better itself?