Traffic cone

Traffic cones are usually used to divert traffic.

The Traffic cone on the right is used in the United Kingdom to indicate that no parking is allowed.

Traffic cones, also called toddlers, road cones, safety cones, construction cones, , pylons, or Witches' Hats, are cone-shaped markers, generally made out of plastic or rubber, that are placed on roads or footpaths to temporarily redirect traffic in a safe manner. They are often used to create merge lanes during road construction projects or automobile accidents, though heavier, more permanent markers or signs are used if the diversion is to stay in place for a long period of time.

Traffic cones are designed to be highly visible and easily movable. Various sizes are used, commonly ranging from around 30 cm to a little over 1 m. Traffic cones come in many different colors, with orange, yellow and red being the most common colors due to their brightness. They may also have a reflective strip to further increase their visibility to vehicle traffic.

Not all traffic cones are conical; pillar shaped movable bollards fulfilling a similar function are often called by the same name.

History

Traffic cones were originally invented in 1914 by Charles P. Rudabaker. Though at first wrought from concrete, today's versions are more commonly brightly-colored rubber cones.

Descriptions

Indoor use

Cones are also frequently used in indoor public spaces to mark off areas which are closed to pedestrians, such as a restroom being out of order; or to make note of a dangerous condition, such as a slippery floor. They can even be used on school playgrounds to delimit areas of a playing field. Some of the cones used for this purpose are miniature, as small as 5cm tall, and some are disposable full size cones made of biodegradable paper.

Outdoor use

Traffic cones on the A45 in South Coventry

Traffic cones are typically used outdoors during road works or other situations requiring traffic delignation or advance warning of hazards or dangers. For night time use, or low-light situations traffic cones are usually fitted with a reflective sleeve to increase visibility and safety.

Other forms of traffic barriers

Cones are easy to move or remove. Where sturdier (and larger) markers are needed, construction sites use traffic barrels (plastic orange barrels with reflective stripes, normally about the same size as a 55 gallon (208 L) drum), which may be weighted with sandbags. When a lane closure must also be a physical barrier against cars accidentally crossing it, a Jersey barrier is preferred.

In countries such as Australia traffic barrels are rarely seen; devices known as bollards are used instead of traffic cones in situations where larger and sturdier warning or delineation devices are needed.

Typically bollards are 1150 mm high fluorescent orange posts with reflective tape and heavy weight rubber bases.

Larger devices such as barrier boards may also be used instead of traffic cones where larger areas need to be excluded or for longer periods.

Types and sizes

File:Trafficcones2.JPG

Typical Australian traffic cones with reflective sleeve for night visibility.

Typical traffic cones are fluorescent "safety" orange and come in sizes such as:

• 300 mm (12 in) - for indoor/outdoor applications
• 450 mm (18 in) - for outdoor applications such as free-way line painting
• 700 mm (28 in) - for free-way/high applications

7 lb (3.2 kg) weight for Street use, and 10 lb (4.5 kg) weight for Highway use eg. Caltrans, TXDOT

• 900 mm (36 in) - as above

Specified for use in the State of Florida and has to be 12 lb (5.4 kg).

Student theft of traffic cones

Traffic cone theft is often associated with students.

In the UK, the issue of the theft and misuse of traffic cones (and other street furniture such as mobile barriers and street signs) by students has gained enough prominence that a spokesperson from the National Union of Students has claimed that "stereotypes of students stealing traffic cones" are "outdated".

Some universities have even devoted entire pages of legislation and advice for students with regards to the consequences and laws involving the theft of traffic cones. Misuse of traffic cones in Scotland has even resulted in serious physical injury.

A recent report by Student Direct claims that the theft of traffic cones in the greater Manchester area is at an all time high.

Trivia

• In the "Notes" section of his collection Skeleton Crew, author Stephen King describes an incident during his college days at the University of Maine in 1970 where he accidentally ran over some cones, destroying his muffler. An angry King decided to collect every traffic cone in Orono and dump them at the police station, and collected about 150 cones before being caught by police. He was sent to trial and was found guilty of grand larceny, and was fined US$200. He was unable to pay the fine and would have been in serious trouble. On returning home he discovered that the magazine publishing the short story "The Raft" sent a check paying him US$250 which he used to pay the fine. He remarks that if such a piece of synchronicity had been put into one of his books it would be dismissed as an unrealistic deus ex machina, but to see it happen in real life left him speechless.
• The early Kraftwerk albums Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk 2 and (less prominently) Ralf und Florian all feature a traffic cone on their sleeves. The cone is also found on the back cover of the pre-Kraftwerk album Tone Float by Organisation.
• The logo of the VLC media player is a traffic cone.
• In episode number 37 of ALF, ALF refers to Willie as "an albino traffic cone with glasses."
• Traffic cones are sometimes used as makeshift megaphones.
• In the Red Dwarf episode, The Last Day, Lister wakes up and proclaims, "We're on a mining ship, three million years into deep space. Can someone tell me where the smeg I got this traffic cone?"
• Traffic cones are called "Toddlers" by many due to their small stature and relative instability when kicked or struck with other objects such as baseball bats.

It also becoming a more and more popular trend for highschool students to steal cones, and place them in unwanted people's mailboxes.

See also

• Road traffic control

External links

• Traffic Cones Online
• The Traffic Cone Preservation Society
• Orange Cones -- Kibo's collection of photographs of cones in unusual places
• Automated Traffic Cone Placement-Retrieval Trailer
• Photos of English traffic cones
• The Cone Epicentre -- Many photos of traffic cones