Was watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire when the contest said that he wondered why a stop sign was red. Please show where you got the information as well.
2006-12-25 05:31:45 · 15 answers · asked by riot grrrl 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Safety
Evidence suggests the signal colors were borrowed from the railroads, where red meant “stop,” green meant “caution,” and clear (white) meant “go.” These came into use in the 1830s and 40s. Around 1914, a broken red lens caused a locomotive engineer to mistake this for a clear “go” and smash into an oncoming train with disasterous results (another example of Deadly Design). Subsequently, the red/yellow/green signals we use today were adopted; yellow was thought to provide the greatest contrast to the other two colors.
Old-time railroaders insist that the use of red comes from farmers using red shirts to flag down trains. It’s a nice story, but probably not true. Red has been a symbol of danger since the time of the Greeks. The reasons for the use of green have been lost to history.
2006-12-25 07:08:54 · answer #1 · answered by serena b 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Stop Sign Red
2016-10-19 04:36:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because Red means Stop, Green means GO
2006-12-27 04:32:38 · answer #3 · answered by jerry 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Many danger signs and traffic lights are red as a warning. The reason for the red is that's the color of blood.
2006-12-25 05:41:44 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have a suggestion! Go outside and cross the street at a very busy intersection when the light is red and if you survive you will find out why STOP SIGNS ARE RED!
2006-12-25 05:35:28 · answer #5 · answered by mdboomskwad.mc4u 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
red is the colour of blood and because of this it is usually planted in a persons subconsious that red means danger. if you associate red with danger then seeing a red sign will make you stop, this is the reason for the colour.
2006-12-26 09:13:06 · answer #6 · answered by adriantheace 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
red=danger
yellow=caution
green=go
thats the way all street signs are set up. as for why i think the railroad thing was a good find
2006-12-25 16:45:14 · answer #7 · answered by vettle1 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because Red means Stop, Green means GO !
The DMV says so !!
If they wanted Stop signs to be green they would have made them green!
2006-12-25 05:35:35 · answer #8 · answered by Mr. Right 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Red is the color of blood, that's why it usually gets our attention.
2006-12-25 05:39:33 · answer #9 · answered by Soundjata 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
beacause the color red gets somones attetion or its like a warning
2006-12-25 05:40:12 · answer #10 · answered by JordanMarie. 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋