Primary school

When you look along the road, you see many different kinds of signs. For example advertising signs, information signs, hanging signs and traffic signs. All these signs tell you something.

With advertising signs, shopkeepers and manufacturers advertise their stores or products (for example a hardware store or supermarket). With information signs we indicate something, for example a gas station. By using hanging signs, stores can be seen and recognized from far away (like a pizza restaurant or a grocery store). And traffic signs tell us something related to traffic.

A very long time ago there were no signs needed. There were very few cars and they did not drive fast. If two cars arrived at an intersection at the same time, which happened very rarely, one of the cars would let the other go first. Later there were many more cars and this was no longer possible. As we have already learned, traffic rules came about, and signs came with them. This way everyone can now know when they have the right of way, when they must let someone go first, or when they are or are not allowed to do something. Traffic signs increase the safety of road users.

On our island there are quite a few traffic signs.

Based on their shape and color we can divide traffic signs into 5 categories. To tell the signs apart we use a fixed starting point.

By dividing the signs by shape and color, the signs are now easy to recognize.

For example when you see this sign, you know that it is a watch out sign.

Why? The shape is triangular with a red border. So when you see such a sign, you immediately know that you must watch out.

In this way you can also recognize all other signs that do not belong in traffic.