What is the law regarding the yellow pedestrian crossing signs that also have a bicycle image next to the pedestrian? My car’s driver-assist system notices the pedestrian-only signs, but doesn’t recognize these combined signs. Are they only a Portland thing? —Seth M.
As a regular reader, Seth, you must know I can’t resist a good road signage question. There’s nothing I enjoy more than curling up in the warm glow of a crackling “STALLED VEHICLE AHEAD” sign with a copy of the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices in one hand and a steaming mug of hot asphalt in the other, so your question is right up my closed-to-thru-traffic alley.
If I’m being pedantic (and aren’t I always?), the law regarding those yellow signs is that there is no law. As the MUTCD will tell you, there are regulatory signs, which require you to do something (stop, yield, do not pass), and warning signs, which merely make you aware of a potential hazard. Your sign is the latter. It means (duh) “bicycle and pedestrian crossing,” and it’s been in use nationwide since 2000, so it’s not just a Portland thing. That said, we have managed to put our own unique spin on it…