With that in mind, Taser introduced a new concept in ECD technology -- the Taser eXtended Range Electronic Projectile (XREP). The XREP looks like a high-tech shotgun shell. That's not by accident -- Taser designed the XREP so that military or law enforcement officers could fire one from a standard 12-gauge shotgun. But instead of firing pellets or a slug, these shells fire a small, self-contained Taser device capable of delivering the same NMI effect as a handheld Taser gun.

Section 79 of the Highways Act 1980 enables the government to improve visibility at junctions, as by removing or shortening walls or hedges. The Department for Transport considers improving visibility to be preferable to installing a stop sign.[33] The former UK practice of using "Halt" or "Slow" at Major Road Ahead signs was discontinued in 1965 at the recommendation of the Worboys Committee.[38] Instead of replacing all the old halt signs with the new Vienna Convention stop sign, the give way sign became the standard one at UK priority junctions.[39]

A Taser is an electronic control device (ECD). The typical Taser device is a handheld gadget that fires a pair of pins tethered to the handset by electrical wires. The handset sends pulses of high voltage electricity to the pins. Anyone shot by a Taser will experience neuromuscular incapacitation (NMI). That means the subject will lose the ability to control his or her muscles -- the electric pulses cause muscles to tense. This usually results in the person falling down and gives law enforcement or military personnel time to restrain him or her.

Stop sign placement can pose difficulties and hazards in applications where cross traffic is not controlled by a sign or light. Relatively long distance between the stop sign and the crossroad facilitates accurate perception of the speed of approaching cross traffic, but lengthens the time and distance required to enter and clear the junction. Relatively short distance between the stop sign and the crossroad shortens the time required for safe passage through the intersection, but degrades the ability of the stopped driver to accurately perceive the speed of approaching cross traffic. Specifically, drivers approaching an intersection from beyond the subtended angular velocity detection threshold (SAVT) limit may be perceived by a stopped driver as standing still rather than approaching,[50] which means the stopped driver may not make an accurate decision as to whether it is safe to proceed past the stop sign.[51] Whether the distance between the stop sign and the crossroad is officially short or is shortened by drivers creeping past the stop line, they can lose the visual acuity of lateral motion,[52] leaving them to rely on the SAVT.[51] This can make it challenging to accurately estimate the movement of approaching cross traffic.[51][50] According to recent game-theoretical analysis, at intersections where all directions face stop signs, drivers have strong incentives to run the stop sign. A better solution is to randomly remove one stop sign from all directions, which could lead to significant efficiency gains while ensure safe traffic.[53]

The second half of the projectile contains the electronics that allow the XREP to transmit voltage to a target. This includes a battery, a transformer and a microprocessor that acts as both a trigger and a monitoring device. The battery stores the electricity the XREP uses upon deployment. The transformer's job is to convert the electricity from the battery into a higher voltage.

Upon firing an XREP shell, the small charge in the shell activates, propelling the projectile down the barrel of the shotgun. A ripcord connecting the projectile to the shell goes taut and then breaks. This activates the projectile's battery, and 20 seconds of high-voltage charge begins to flow through the device.

Taser's Web site says that most people tend to react the same way after suffering a blunt impact: They instinctively reach for the impact site. That's not such a great idea with the XREP. If the subject's hand makes contact with the XREP's reflex engagement electrodes, the microprocessor in the XREP diverts electricity and creates a circuit. Electricity flows from the electrodes into the subject's body and out through the hand that is touching the XREP. This spreads the effect of the XREP through more of the subject's body.

The octagon was also chosen so that it could be identified easily at night since the original signs were not reflective.[citation needed] The more urban-oriented National Conference on Street and Highway Safety (NCSHS) advocated a smaller red-on-yellow stop sign.[11] These two organizations eventually merged to form the Joint Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which in 1935 published the first Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD) detailing the stop sign's specifications.

This projectile has two main sections. The nose of the projectile has four sharpened electrodes. These electrodes pierce the clothing and skin of the subject and serve as the main point of contact for the electric charge. Before impact, the nose and second stage of the projectile move as a single unit. A pair of Kevlar-coated wires tether the nose to the second half of the projectile.

Why do Tasers work? What is it that makes them capable of incapacitating a human, no matter how large or strong that person might be? It all has to do with muscle physiology.

The use of stop signs varies by country. North America and South Africa use all-way stops in some intersections unlike in some countries where they are legally prohibited.[27] In a majority[citation needed] of Central Asian countries, as well as Cuba in North America, junctions without traffic lights or roundabouts are controlled by stop signs on minor roads and by white, yellow and black priority diamond signs on the major road. In Europe and Australia, stop signs are restricted to places where coming to a dead stop is deemed necessary because of severely limited sight lines. At the vast majority of minor intersections in these countries give way signs or equivalent road markings are used, or the intersections are no-priority; roundabouts also work on the give way (rather than stop) principle.

WA road signs meaning

­The neurotransmitter tells your muscle cells to contract. On a chemical level, the neurotransmitter causes muscle cells to release calcium within the cell. The calcium binds with the protein troponin, which regulates contraction. Muscle cells work together in huge numbers, making it possible for you to flex a bicep or lift a finger. When the cells stop receiving the command to contract, the calcium returns to a series of intercellular vesicles called the sarcoplasmic reticulum [source: National Skeletal Muscle Research Center].

A stop sign on a pivoting arm is required equipment on North American school buses. The sign normally stows flat on the left side of the bus, and is deployed by the driver when opening the door for picking up or dropping off passengers. Some buses have two such stop arms, one near the front facing forwards, and one near the rear facing backwards. The stop sign is retroreflective and equipped either with red blinking lights above and below the stop legend or with a legend that is illuminated by LEDs. Unlike a normal stop sign, this sign indicates a two-way absolute stop, requiring other vehicles travelling in both directions to remain stopped until the sign is retracted.[citation needed]

Until June 2008, Taser either won every case or settled out of court. Taser lost its first case in California -- a jury found the company liable for the death of Robert C. Heston. Police officers hit Heston multiple times with Taser devices while attempting to subdue him in 2005. The jury concluded that the Taser strikes caused Heston's death. The Taser company plans to appeal the decision [source: Johnson].

In all countries, the driver must come to a complete stop before passing a stop sign, even if no other vehicle or pedestrian is visible. If a stop line is marked on the pavement, drivers must stop before crossing the line. Slowing but not completely stopping is called a "rolling stop", sometimes nicknamed after a city or region where it is considered endemic (e.g., "Rhode Island roll" or "California stop"[40]) – slowing down significantly but not stopping completely at the sign.[41] This partial stop is not acceptable to most law enforcement officials, and can result in a traffic citation. However, enforcement of this rule varies widely among countries. The automobile manufacturer Tesla removed a "rolling stop" feature from its self-driving software after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration complained the practice is unsafe and illegal everywhere in the United States.[42]

Stop signs are often used in North America to control conflicting traffic movements at intersections that are deemed not busy enough to justify the installation of a traffic signal or roundabout. In the United States, the stop sign is not intended as a traffic calming device,[6] but is meant to be installed mainly for safety or to assign right-of-way. Stop signs may be erected on all intersecting roads, resulting in an all-way stop.[6] Some research has concluded that stop signs do not offer measurable safety benefits over the Yield approach.[28][29] Other research has concluded that multiway stop signs do not effectively control traffic speeds, and can give rise to negative effects including increased traffic noise and pollution from braking and accelerating vehicles, enforcement problems, and reduced sign compliance.[30]

When you apply a high-voltage, low-amperage electric charge to muscle tissue, it's as if you're overloading its communication system. Taser's electric pulses cause affected muscles to contract up to 19 times per second. Under normal conditions, your body moves by relaxing one set of muscles while contracting another. But if an electronic pulse hits your body, both sets of muscles may try to contract at the same time. Generally speaking, the stronger muscles win out. But because the pulses override the commands from your brain, you have no conscious ability to control their movements.

If the only contact with the subject is through the nose of the XREP, the microprocessor directs all pulses through those electrodes. That means a smaller area on the subject's body will be subject to the NMI effect.

• The purpose of the Taser is to incapacitate the target without causing severe injury, but there have been reports that some people have died as a result of being hit by a Taser. Taser disputes these claims and says that its products are safe to use under normal circumstances.

Road signs WesternAustralia

The 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals allows for two types of stop signs as well as several acceptable variants. Sign B2a is a red octagon with a white stop legend. The European Annex to the convention also allows the background to be "light yellow". Sign B2b is a red circle with a red inverted triangle with either a white or yellow background, and a black or dark blue stop legend. The Convention allows for the word "STOP" to be in either English or the national language of the particular country. The finalized version by the United Nations Economic and Social Council's Conference on Road Traffic in 1968 (and in force in 1978) proposed standard stop sign diameters of 600, 900 or 1200 mm (24, 36 or 48 inches).

­Creating a device small enough to fit into a shotgun shell casing but powerful enough to incapacitate a subject was no easy task. The development team at Taser had to find a way to balance power with size. Not only did they need the device to travel farther than a standard Taser, but also to have the right amount of mass. If it had too little mass, it wouldn't travel far enough. But if it had too much mass, it could become a deadly projectile rather than a non-lethal solution.

The XREP fits inside a special shotgun shell casing. Unlike standard shells, the cases for XREP devices are transparent. Taser chose transparent shells to make it easier for officers to identify the correct shell before loading it into a shotgun.

As the base of the projectile falls free, six Cholla electrodes unfold. The electrodes take their name from the Cholla cactus, which has barbed spines. If the Cholla electrodes pierce the subject's clothing and make contact with the skin, the microprocessor in the XREP channels electricity through both the nose and Cholla electrodes. This spreads the NMI effect over a larger area of the subject's body.

The first stop sign was created in 1914[9] by Detroit police sergeant Harold "Harry" Jackson, who was working as a traffic guard at a busy city intersection. One of the cross streets had a particularly low-visibility turn entering the intersection, almost always forcing Sgt. Jackson to slow down and hold back the traffic entering from that street. Looking for ways to make his job easier, he took a rectangular piece of plywood, cut off the corners to give it a distinct shape, wrote "STOP" over the center and placed facing the street. He noticed that his innovation improved the overall traffic flow through the intersection. After he shared his experience with fellow officers at a meeting, the practice started to spread across the city intersections.[10] The next year, 1915, stop signs were adopted across Michigan.[11][better source needed][12] The first ones had black lettering on a white background and were 24 by 24 inches (61 cm × 61 cm), somewhat smaller than the current sign. As stop signs became more widespread, a rural-dominated committee supported by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) met in 1922 to standardize them and selected the octagonal shape that has been used in the United States ever since. The unique eight-sided shape of the sign allows drivers facing the back of the sign to identify that oncoming drivers have a stop sign and prevent confusion with other traffic signs. Another consideration of the AASHO was visibility and driver literacy, as summarized in subsequent State Highway Commission reports in the states of the U.S., was that the goal for signs "standardized throughout the Union" was that "The shape of the sign will indicate what it will mean. This has been worked up very carefully by the best-qualified men in the country and men who have made a thorough study of this question. It has been found that so many people have trouble in reading the sign that the shape of the sign is very much more important than the reading matter on it."[13]

Laws and regulations regarding how drivers must comply with a stop sign vary by jurisdiction. In the United States and Canada, these rules are set and enforced at the state or provincial level. At a junction where two or more traffic directions are controlled by stop signs, US and Canada practice generally has the driver who arrives and stops first continue first. If two or three drivers in different directions stop simultaneously at a junction controlled by stop signs, generally the drivers on the left must yield the right-of-way to the driver on the far right.

But the typical Taser has a couple of limitations. Because the pins connect to the firing mechanism through wires, the typical Taser has a range limited to the length of the wires -- about 35 feet (10.6 meters). And while a Taser works well for taking down a single subject, it's not easy to reload a fired Taser device -- something that may be necessary in crowd control situations.

As a result, the affected area of your body will tense up as the surrounding muscles contract. You may lose your balance and fall. Depending upon where you've been hit, you may not be able to break your fall or catch yourself. That's why people who have been hit by a Taser sometimes suffer superficial cuts, bumps and bruises.

The 20 seconds of voltage emission allows the officer time to close the distance to the subject and restrain him or her. But the shotgun shell form factor also means the officer can load a second round into the gun and fire at another subject if necessary.

As the projectile clears the end of the shotgun's barrel, three spring-loaded fins deploy at its base. The fins cause the projectile to spin in flight, stabilizing its path. The projectile will spin even if the officer uses a smooth-bore shotgun.

Because Taser uses low-amperage currents, there's little danger of suffering electric burns or more serious side effects. But there's still the potential for complications. While Taser claims the amperage levels are well within safe levels, others aren't convinced. Several individuals have brought lawsuits against Taser charging that the company's product contributed to a person's death.

The base has six electrodes that unfold from the body of the projectile upon impact with a target. To help stabilize flight, the base of the projectile also has three spring-loaded fins that deploy upon ejection from the shotgun.

Australian road signs PDF

The red octagonal field with white English-language stop legend is the most common stop sign used around the world, but it is not universal; Japan uses an inverted solid red triangle, for example, and Zimbabwe until 2016 used a disc bearing a black cross. Moreover, there are many variants of the red-and-white octagonal sign. Although all English-speaking and many other countries use the word stop on stop signs, some jurisdictions use an equivalent word in their primary language instead, or in addition. Also, several languages borrowed the English word "stop" a long time ago, such as French, and therefore do not consider it to be a foreign word any more. The use of native languages is common on U.S. native reservations, especially those promoting language revitalization efforts,[citation needed] for example, and Israel uses no word, but rather a pictogram of a hand in a palm-forward "stop" gesture.

• Our muscles rely on electrochemical signals sent from our nervous system. Millions of the signals pass through our bodies every second. A Taser overloads this communication system by introducing low-amperage, high voltage electricity.

In Europe, stop signs are generally placed at sites where visibility is severely restricted, or where a high crash rate has been noted. In some European countries, stop signs are placed at level crossings to mark the stop line. For most situations, Europe uses the give way sign instead.[31][32] All-way stops, which are common in North America, are exceedingly rare in Europe. Comparatively, roundabouts and priority to the right intersections are more common.

Road signs Victoria meaning

There are times when law enforcement officers or military personnel need to subdue a person or group of people without using lethal force. They rely upon a variety of tools and tactics to achieve this goal. Some of those tools include items like riot shields, batons and tear gas. One less-than-lethal tool is the Thomas A. Swift Electric Rifle, or Taser.

Attending CES (formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas is something I both look forward to and dread each year. The dread stems from the fact that the show is enormous -- it occupies the Las Vegas Convention Center, a 3.2-million square foot (297,290 square-meter) facility, with exhibition space spilling over into neighboring mega hotels. But each year I somehow discover something I find particularly interesting. The Taser Shotgun Shell definitely falls into that category. It's fascinating technology and absolutely terrifying all in one go. The idea of shooting someone with an electrified slug seems like the stuff out of a science fiction film but it's reality. The stopping power of a Taser is impressive and legitimately scary. The invention left such a huge impression on me -- figuratively speaking -- that I've sought out the Taser booth every year since.

Just like a normal shotgun shell, the XREP shell uses gunpowder as a propellant. The shotgun ejects the XREP casing just as it would any normal shotgun round. But instead of firing a slug or round of shot, the shotgun fires an electronic projectile weighing 3.4 grams (about .12 ounces) [source: Taser].

The reason the XREP needs a step-up transformer is to create enough voltage to induce NMI in the target. Too few volts and the subject won't be incapacitated. Too many, and the target could be killed. To keep the Taser XREP from becoming a lethal weapon, Taser limits the amount of current flowing through the system to a few milliamps.

While the court decision is a setback for Taser, many people depend upon the company's products to provide a solution for situations that don't call for lethal force. It's likely we'll see more controversy as law enforcement and military personnel adopt the XREP in their weapons repertoire. One thing's for certain -- the results will be shocking.

The United Kingdom and New Zealand stop signs are 750, 900 or 1200 mm (about 30, 36 or 48 inches), according to sign location and traffic speeds.[2][3]

In Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Caribbean and South American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela), signs bear the legend pare ("stop" in Portuguese and Spanish). Mexico and Central American countries bear the legend alto ("halt") instead.

In some countries such as Czechia and Russia, stopping is required only at a place where a driver has a sufficient view into the intersection, not at the border of the intersection (where a "STOP" line is not present). Therefore, if multiple drivers come from the same direction and all of them stop at appropriate place, they can continue without stopping again.[43]

In the United Kingdom, stop signs may only be placed at junctions with tramways or sites with severely restricted visibility.[33] Until 2016, each stop sign had to be individually approved by the Secretary of State for Transport.[34][35] This requirement was removed by the 2016 amendments to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions;[36][37] the responsibility for approving stop signs now lies with local authorities.

In the Canadian province of Quebec, modern signs read either arrêt or stop.[20] As of 1987, Quebec removed the English stop from its road signs in favor of arrêt.[21] Both stop and arrêt are considered valid French words, with France actually using the word "STOP" on its stop signs, and the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) notes that the use of "stop" on stop signs is attested in French since 1927.[22] At the time of the debates surrounding the adoption of the Charter of the French Language ("Bill 101") in 1977, the usage of "stop" was considered to be English and therefore controversial; some signs were occasionally vandalized with red spray paint to turn the word stop into "101".[23] However, it was later officially determined by the OQLF that "stop" is a valid French word in this context, and the older dual arrêt / stop usage is therefore considered redundant and therefore deprecated (à éviter). Newly installed signs thus use only one word, more commonly only arrêt in Québec, while stop is seen in predominantly English-speaking areas. The latter version of stop signs has been disagreed upon by some Quebec residents.[24] Bilingual signs with stop arrêt are still placed in areas of Alberta, New Brunswick and Manitoba; the Acadian regions of Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island; on federal property in the National Capital Region; and at all border crossings of the Canada–United States border.[citation needed] On First Nations or Inuit territories, stop signs sometimes use the local aboriginal language in addition or instead of English, French, or both, such as Inuktitut notkagit. All other English-speaking areas of Canada use stop.

Countries in Asia generally use a native word, often in a non-Latin script. The sign's shape varies by location, with places such as South Korea, Hong Kong, or Taiwan using the standard octagon shape, with Japan using a triangle.[19]

Our bodies work using a combination of electrical and chemical signals to communicate commands from the nervous system to and from our other systems. When we want to flex a muscle, our brain sends electrical signals to special nerve cells. These nerve cells are transducers -- they convert energy from one format into another. In this case, the nerve cell converts the electrical energy from the brain into a c­hemical compound called a neurotransmitter.

Once the projectile makes contact with the target, several things happen in sequence. First, the four electrodes pierce the clothing and skin of the subject. Next, the impact causes a series of fracture pins to break. The fracture pins hold the nose to the base of the projectile. Once the pins break, the base of the projectile swings free of the nose. But it's still connected to the nose through two Kevlar-coated wires.

• The Taser Shotgun Shell's official name is the eXtended Range Electronic Projectile (XREP) and it works through neuromuscular incapacitation (NMI).

­A transformer converts alternating current from one voltage to another through a series of coils wrapped around a core -- two wires coiled around an iron nail could be a simple transformer. As electricity travels through the first coil of wires around the core, it creates a magnetic field. The magnetic field induces an electric field, which causes electrons to travel through the second coil of wires. There are step-up transformers that increase the voltage from an incoming source of electricity or step-down transformers that decrease the voltage.

Road signsAustraliameanings

Countries in Europe generally have stop signs with the text stop, regardless of local language. There were some objections to this when introduced around the 1970s, but now this is accepted. Turkey (and the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) is a notable exception to this, instead using the Turkish word for stop: "dur".

In some jurisdictions, such as the U.S. state of Idaho, the traffic code allows for bicyclists approaching a stop sign to slow down and yield to conflicting traffic, then proceed without stopping unless safety requires a full stop.[44] The Idaho law has been in effect since 1982 and has not been shown to be detrimental to safety.[45] Since 2017, more states have implemented changes to the law similar to Idaho's: Delaware (2017),[46] Oregon (2020), Washington (2020), Utah (2021) and North Dakota (2021). Cyclist advocacy groups have sought similar "Idaho stop" laws for other jurisdictions in the United States.[47][48][49]

A group of prison guards face the worst case scenario -- a full-blown prison riot. The inmates pose a danger to one another and to the personnel working at the prison. The guards hope to use non-lethal force to end the riot early and spare human lives. Using shotguns loaded with XREP shells, they take aim at rioting prisoners and fire. What happens next?

Some modern stop signs have flashing LEDs around the perimeter, which has been shown to substantially reduce crashes.[8]

Road signs SouthAustralia

A stop sign is a traffic sign designed to notify drivers that they must come to a complete stop and make sure the intersection (or railroad crossing) is safely clear of vehicles and pedestrians before continuing past the sign.[1] In many countries, the sign is a red octagon with the word STOP, in either English, the national language of that particular country, or both, displayed in white or yellow. The Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals also allows an alternative version: a red circle with a red inverted triangle with either a white or yellow background, and a black or dark blue STOP. Some countries may also use other types, such as Japan's inverted red triangle stop sign. Particular regulations regarding appearance, installation, and compliance with the signs vary by some jurisdictions.

The MUTCD's stop sign specifications were altered eight times between 1935 and 1971. From 1924 to 1954, stop signs bore a red or black stop legend on a yellow field.[11] Yellow was chosen because fade-resistant red materials were not available.[14][15] Retro-reflective or self-lit signs were permitted in the 1935 MUTCD; retro-reflective ones were first required by the 1948 edition of the MUTCD, which also called for a 2+1/2-foot (0.76-metre) height from the road crown to the bottom of the stop sign.[16] The 1954 MUTCD newly specified a white stop legend on a red field, and increased the mount height specification to 5 feet in rural areas.[11] Red traffic lights signify stop, so the new specification unified red as a stop signal whether given by a sign or a light. The current mounting height of 7 ft (2.13 m) was first specified in 1971.[11]

In the United States, stop signs are 30 inches (76 cm) across opposite flats of the red octagon, with a ⁠3/4⁠-inch (2 cm) white border. The white uppercase stop legend is 10 inches (25 cm) tall.[4][5] Larger signs of 35 inches (89 cm) with 12-inch (30 cm) legend and 1-inch (2.5 cm) border are used on multi-lane expressways. Regulatory provisions exist for extra-large 45-inch (110 cm) signs with 16-inch (41 cm) legend and ⁠1+3/4⁠-inch border for use where sign visibility or reaction distance are limited, and the smallest permissible stop sign size for general usage is 24 inches (61 cm) with an 8-inch (20 cm) legend and ⁠5/8⁠-inch (1.5 cm) border.[6] The metric units specified in the US regulatory manuals are rounded approximations of US customary units, not exact conversions.[5][7] The field, legend, and border are all retroreflective.

The MUTCD stop sign was already widely deployed in the United States when the use of other types of stop signs was eliminated in 1966.[11] In 1968, this sign was adopted by the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals as part of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's effort to standardize road travel across borders. The Convention specifies that stop be written in English or the national language, and also allows a circular sign with red legend. Forty European countries[17] are party to the convention.

An electrical current's amperage refers to the number of electrons moving through the system. Voltage refers to the intensity or "pressure" pushing the electrons. It's possible to survive a high-voltage, low-amperage shock, but all it takes is 100 milliamps to interfere with your heartbeat [source: Lansing State Journal].