Why You Need to be Extra Careful in Idaho if You See Red Lines Painted on the Ground

Anyone with a license has had the rules of the lanes drilled into their head. White lines are for traffic traveling in the same direction as you. Yellow lines mark the road separating traffic in opposite directions. It gets more detailed with broken lines vs. solid, and other markings.

Markings in parking lots seem pretty standard as well. Don’t park in places not marked for your situation; handicapped, pregnant mothers, safety officers, physicians only, etc. Spacing of the stripes as well as 90-degree vs angled parking are all set by certain standards.

What Do The Colored Marks on the Side of the Road Mean?

I don’t remember covering random spray paint on the road during driver’s ed, though. It turns out, those spray paint marks aren’t gangs with poor art skills marking new territory. They are marking different lines running underneath the road and underground.

Be aware of red marks if you see them. Red means ‘danger’ electric lines. If it is painted on the road, that means work is either happening or is about to near that area. The marking assists workers to know the types of cables or lines they need to watch out for. The American National Standard for Safety Colors has a whole chart to mark lines for telecommunication, natural gas, sewers, and more.

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I should have realized it was something like this. When I was planting trees in my yard, we called 811 and the professionals came out and marked our yard to ensure our digging was safe. Of course, the same standard applies to roads.