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Roadsign shapes and meanings

In general, the greater number of sides on a sign, the more critical a message it conveys. This is why a circular shape was adopted for the Railroad Advance warning sign (i.e. infinite number of sides), as a collision between a train and a typical vehicle will nearly always end badly. Then next the octagon shape is used for the Stop sign, since not noticing that sign typically has unpleasant consequences, and so on down the line. There are of course exceptions to this rule - a pentagonal County Route marker isn't (typically) a greater threat than a standard square route marker, and even though they have only 3 sides, the Yield and No Passing Zone signs are still rather important (and the pennant shape of the NPZ sign serves as a sort of "get back over on your own side of the road" arrow).

Special shapes are specifically assigned to certain types of signs so that travelers can recognize them quickly and react appropriately.