Bright orange is commonly used along roads because the bold color grabs the driver’s attention. Orange cones, barriers, and signs signal potential hazards or unsafe conditions ahead.
Roads aren’t the only place where bold orange signs make their appearance. While hiking the trails in certain open space preserves in the Bay Area you may run across slanted signs that have orange and white stripes.
What the orange and white striped signs are for
These signs are pipeline markers, used to indicate that a buried pipeline is present in the area. These pipelines are often carrying natural gas and are placed to warn people not to dig or otherwise disturb the ground near the pipeline corridor.
The signs, known as paddle markers, are slanted to point down to the location where the pipeline is buried underground.
