road signs
It is amazing how fast people can change.
Deer Xing (source: http://www.signs-up.com/)
When I first got to the U.S., I was very surprised by the fact that cars really stop, or at least close to stop, at stop signs. To be honest, I have never stopped at stop signs in Korea. As far as I remember, no one stops at stop signs in Korea. (I hope this has been changed.) Now, I do stop at stop signs here in the U.S. It is highly possible that you can get into accidents if you do not stop at stop signs in the United States because people drive assuming that all drivers would stop at stop signs.
Another road sign I found that it is very interesting to see here in the U.S is “No turn on red.” You would see this sign so many times in the U.S. When you see this sign, you CANNOT make even right turns when the red signal is on. This is not the case in Korea. It is possible to make right turns on red as long as there is no traffic coming through. So, my friends who are not in the U.S.! Please do remember these two signs so that you do not get into any trouble when you drive in the U.S. If you happen to violate any of these and get caught by Police, there is a simple trick you can do. Try to say, “Yesterday Korea, Today America,” with a very bad accent. I do not guarantee this would work for you though.
There are also so many road signs related with animals. Most of them are for deer. It mostly has a deer image but some of them has also text. It says “deer xing.” Well, when I first saw that sign, I knew what it is trying to warn but I did not know how to pronounce “XING” and also what it means. Can you guess? I believe you can. You are smarter than me. It is a shortened one for “Crossing.” I remember I also saw these signs in Korea but never really encountered any deer at all on the road. But, here in the U.S., you do need to be careful of deer when you drive. They are everywhere, especially at night.
Looking back, I realize that how much I have been changed. I do stop at stop signs and do not make right turns at no turn on red sign. And, I am very afraid of deer when I drive at night.
There are some other signs I also think very interesting. I will get back to those later. Have a good day, my friends!
Pittsburgh is especially bad for No Turn On Red, I’m not sure why but almost every single light in the city is like this. It’s very rare in Maryland not to be able to turn right on red.
Pittsburgh has a lot of blind turns or roads that don’t provide a safe avoidance area for someone to move into if someone moves into the lane in front of them.
Then again, it may just be that they printed up too many ‘No Turn On Red’ signs and had to use them up!
There are rarely “no turn on red” signs in Virginia or Nashville, TN either. I’ve really only seen them here in Pittsburgh.
I thought it was because there are a lot of crosswalks in Pittsburgh.
So, PGH is unique. The roads in PGH are kind of narrower compared to the ones in Philly and Virginia and Maryland?
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When I came to Chicago, it was my first visit to US, I even didn’t know the fact that a vehicle should stop when a police car is flashing behine it. One day when I was heading home from work, one police car was flasing just behine me and I just changed a lane to allow it to pass me, but finally I was stopped and police asked me”What are you supposed to do when the police car is behind you?” Can you guess what I said to that question ? “Drive slow or change lane to open a road to a police car..”, I said. That’s a real story I experienced and I really didn’t know that I had to stop on shoulder or side lane. I was fortunate at that time and the police kindly told me what I should do in that situation without giving any violation ticket.
Different from here in CA, If I add a little exaggeration, one out of 10 vechicles on the road after 10 PM in Chicago is a police car. Be more attentive when you dirve at Chicago, but I love Chicago and want to get a chance to live there again, it’s a safe place to live as long as you don’t go into some areas that are know as a dangerous spot.
Wow, that is an experience! What about school buses and fire trucks and ambulances. I was also surprised by the fact that all of the cars really stop and not even thinking about moving at all. I am glad you did not get any ticket from it. I do love Chicago too. Very clean and nice restaurants! I want to visit again.
It often bothers me how difficult these signs are to understand. Some other countries use much more visual signs, which I think is better. Another bad one is “PED XING.” It means “pedestrian crossing,” but “pedestrian” is an unnecessarily difficult word anyway. It just means “walkers” — or why not just say “people”?
Another confusing issue for international visitors and residents is how different laws are in different states. If you live in California at first, you may get used to casually making U-turns in residential areas, but this is illegal in some other states. :/
Anyway, I’ve never been brave enough to try driving in another country. So if you’ve done it successfully, then I’m impressed by you!
Clarissa, I do agree with PED XING sign. It is hard for visitors to understand it. It took me sometime to get to know those rules and regulations. I would like to talk about them later. But, luckily, I have not gotten any tickets yet. But, as I live longer here, international students who come to the U.S. with international driver’s license should not be allowed to drive until they pass some sort of written exam. The exam should ask questions related with some important regulations because it is highly possible to cause accidents by not knowing and following those road signs.
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