Car

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Cars, Automobile, Automobiles, Motor Car, Motor Cars, Vehicles, Passenger Car

Category

Transportation, Transport Facilities, Transport Modes, Road Signs, Regulations, Management

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate a facility specifically designed (or intended) for cars or to indicate a reference to a passenger car

	Source	Description
	StVO D	Front view of passenger car
	UIC 413	Front view of passenger car
	Transantiago	Front view of passenger car
	Tern	Front view of passenger car
	NZS 8603	Front view of passenger car
	U.S. National Park Service	Front view of passenger car
	EJP	Front view of passenger car
	OCHA	Front view of passenger car
	Dutchicon	Front view of passenger car
	McLaren & Braunstein	Front view of passenger car
	France IISR	Front view of passenger car
	RVV 1966	Front view of passenger car
	W-RSN	Front view of passenger car
	KRESZ	Front view of passenger car showing several details
	Picto'grafics	Front view of passenger car showing several details
	UN 1968	Front view of passenger car showing several details
	StVO A	Front view of passenger car showing several details
	W-JAP	Front view of passenger car showing several details
	D'source	Front view of passenger car showing several details
	RVV 1990	Front view of passenger car
	PMP RI	Front view of passenger car showing several details
	Fasobrun Jamil	Front view of sports car showing several details
	Dutchicon	Front view of passenger car
	Handbuch wien.gv.at	Front view of passenger car showing several details
	STVO A	Front view of vintage passenger car
	NPS	Side view of passenger car
	RVV 1990	Side view of passenger car
	ADV	Side view of passenger car
	Parks Canada	Side view of passenger car
	BS 8501:2002	Side view of passenger car
	W-RSN	Side view of passenger car
	Transport for London	Side view of passenger car
	STVO D	Side view of passenger car
	SADC	Side view of passenger car
	Tern	Side view of passenger car
	CNFC	Side view of passenger car
	Dutchicon	Side view of passenger car
	Dutchicon	Side view of passenger/sports car
	CNIS	Side view of sports car
	Museu Blau	Side view of passenger car in outline
	STVO D	Rear view of passenger car
	ISO 7000	Rear view of passenger car
	STVO A	Rear view of passenger car
	DER	Rear view of passenger car
	W-JAP	Rear view of passenger car with several details
	RVV 1990	Rear view of passenger car with several details
	STVO A	Plan view of passenger car
	W-JAP	Plan view of passenger car

Note: Some of the examples shown above were mirrored horizontally to contrast differences.

Discussion

A multitude of renderings of cars are available as pictograms all over the world, displaying cars as front views, side views, and in far less variations as rear views. Even though many renderings show signs of their times, they are still in use, and the cars displayed can be recognized as such. Besides pictograms just showing a car, there are several specific messages where cars are an element of the image used, like Taxi, Car Rental, Car Wash, Parking, Park & Ride, Car Ferry, and even more, especially in road signs.

Usage of different views of passenger cars on road signs is dependent on the intendend message:

According to the UN Convention on Road Signs and Signals front views identify certain types of roads as for example in the sign Sign E, 6^a Road for Motor Vehicles, and are used to signify the aspect Multi-track Vehicle.
Rear views of passenger cars are used to create some kind of identification in road signs, as for example in No Passing, Slippery Road, Dangerous Shoulder, or Fog/Low Visibility.
Side views are used for messages like Steep Road/Steep Hill/Steep Grade, or to warn about falling into the water Quayside/River Bank, and also to identify a specific vehicle group.
Birds eye views are used for parking related messages in some countries, and to signal that lanes merge, in Austria for example.

Besides tests for the referents mentioned above, or tests concerning traffic or road signs, we did not find any research data regarding just Car as a specific referent. But one can expect that most images of cars can easily be identified as such, which probably is the main reason why no such tests are in our database.