Panasonic LX100 at an effective 46mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
What Do I Mean?
クイズ：このニューカレドニアの交通標識はどういう意味でしょうか？
road sign in Nouméa, New Caledonia
Driving around during our vacation in New Caledonia, I came across a number of road signs whose meaning was not intuitive to me, including the one above. I thought it might make a good “What am I?” quiz.
The sign obviously doesn't mean “No Bicycles Allowed” or I wouldn't be posting it here.... unless, of course, I'm doing the whole reverse-psychology thing to fake you out. But then again, I may well be doing the whole reverse-reverse-psychology thing to fake you into thinking I'm trying to fake you out.
Frankly, I'm so confused now that I don't even know. Anyway, what do you think the sign means?
As is usual with these quizzes, I'll hold all guesses privately until I publish the answer in a day or three.
UPDATE: I've posted a hint here.
Leave a comment...
No bicycle parking?
If signs there follow the same logic than “Mainland France”, this would mean that this precise path is for cars or pedestrians, and bicycles should take a neighbouring track (usually from left to right cars / bicycles / pedestrians)…
My guess is either no bike parking or no chaining bike to trees
“Don’t leave bikes chained to palm trees.”
The sign without the red line across it would indicate a road or lane that bicycles must use; so the crossed sign probably marks the end of such a lane.
I’d guess: end of bicycle path.
Clearly it means no bicycles that lack brakes, spokes, drivetrains and all the other essentials that the image is lacking.
Hello Jeffrey,
it’s easy : it means “end of the mandatory bike road” .
French rod signs are slashed when the instruction (obligation, or piece of advice etc…) is put at end.
By the way, I love your blog that I read for 5 years now.
David ,
A french boy, from Paris (but who travelled a bit , including in New Caledonia)
“No bicycles without riders” i.e., don’t leave a bike unattended, especially locked to one of these trees.
Do not lean bikes against the palm trees.
Some risk of damaging trunks ?
My guess is that they don’t want you to park and chain your bike to the palm trees.
It means the mandatory lane for bicycles ends right after the sign.
A blue round sign is an enforcement sign. With a bike on it, you have to ride your bike on the specific lane dedicated to cyclists. The red ribbon accross the sign puts an end to that lane. So you have to share the road with the others again.
No bicycle parking?
Since New Caledonia is a French territory(?), I’m guessing that French/European road sign rules apply, and therefore perhaps it is a “End-of-bicycles-only-zone” sign. Writing from Kensington, MD, USA where we don’t use that system of signs.
Not a parking area for the bicycles
Hi Jeffery,
How about no bike riding on the beach.
John from southern Florida
This sign is used in my country (Czech Republic) for pathways reserved for bicycles (bycycle path, cycle track). Crossed one at the end, not crossed one at the beggining. Crossed one just mean you are no longer on the road reserved for bicycles. Looking forward to see if it has the same meaning in New Caledonia.
I think it’s obvious. A permitted sign is blue. The red dash through the middle means “ends”. So this is the end of a cycling path.
Of course it’s easier for me living in a cycling friendly European country. And the signs are standardised to a point, allthough I’ve never seen this one before. I checked online and it’s not an offical sign in Germany. But as stated, quite obvious in it’s meaning.
This is a cycle path End Sign. In Germany biker must use this cycle path with this sign without the red line marking. Sign No. 237
50 Points against cycle paths in Germany http://www.velofahren.de/e_50-reasons.html
“Keep to the Left of a Bike” is the only thing that comes to mind if the meaning was not “No Bicycles Allowed” (short of searching for traffic regulations in Nouméa, New Caledonia).
I’ve posted a hint here:
http://regex.info/blog/2015-12-17/2658
Once I make all the answers public, those prior to this comment are ones submitted before I posted the hint.
The bike lane is going to end (you are going to merge with car traffic)
I suspect the traffic system is British with driving on the left side. The direction the photo was taken would indicate you were standing on the right side of the road. If you were riding on the bike path, you would be on the wrong side of the traffic. A better sign would be “Stay on the left”. My two bits worth.
This is easy for someone who has lived in Europe. That sign means “end of bike lane”. Round signs with blue background mean something is mandatory (although strictly speaking a bike lane sign does not mean bikers cannot ride on the road), round signs with white background and red circle mean a prohibition. The red stripe just means the end of the previous sign (if it was from a prohibition sign, both the circle and the stripe should be gray).
I’ve posted the answer to the quiz here:
http://regex.info/blog/2015-12-22/2660