Canada soon adopting European "Green running man" exit sign? Click to read more!

[Medved]

The signs were red, because when only incandescents were available to generate usefull illumination, they emit most light in red, even when the eye is not as sensitive for it. It was simply because of the incandescent spectrum.
But these days light sources are available with similar efficiency in radiating in any color, so the color where you need least radiated power for the same visibility (so the green) become way more practical, so standards shift to it.

Moreover it allow to use "traffic control" like color coding: Green mean "safe emergency exit", red could mean "Don't use in emergency" - e.g. marking of the elevators (I mean non-evacuation rated)...

[joe_347V]

But then that allows the potential for confusion particularly if the new design signage uses red for "NO EXIT" while the old red "EXIT" is still in use and it probably will still be in use for a long time since they're only required to use them in new construction and renovations. 

[Medved]

I do agree. I have seen the "NO EXIT" first time in some airport (I do not anymore remember where), where it was in the big full-wall window above some loading deck. First I was confused, how to escape that way, only later I noticed the "NO" in the text...

[dor123]

I understood what the green color of EXIT signs means, and why the red EXIT signs phased out in Canada.
We don't have the green walking man logo in our EXIT signs in Israel, but the text "EXIT" in hebrew instead, but it printed in green as well.
Only the "No Exit" signs in Israel are printed red, and this is because these signs are on doors that may leads you to nothing and you might be caught there and wouldn't find a way to escape, if you enter there.
The green and the red color used as a mode symbol.
Green means safe or no dangers and red means danger and is usually a warning color.
Therefore red Exit signs is illegal, as they causes much confusion because they contains an Non standard combination of a positive sign that says a safety exit with a warning color (And the origin of the used lightsources isn't an excuse to deviate the worldwide standard (What is more important: Brightness over the nature of the sign color, or a less bright sign with a standard color? [Indeed, in Israel, Electrozen produce green LED Exit signs {With either green or white LEDs, but the text always green, regardless of the LEDs color} that are very dim, much dimmer than a hypothetical green version of Canada incandescent EXIT/SORTIE signs, but they are still pronounced in the darkness]).
I think that except Canada, and i don't know how the status in the US about the color of the Exit signs is (Through i saw pictures of american LED Exit signs [The ones with the seperate incandescent/halogen emergency lights] and LED retrofits for incandescent lamps for Exit signs, that had red LEDs instead of green LEDs), no region in the world uses red color for EXIT signs as this is an unusual and not standard.

[joe_347V]

Actually since people are used to seeing RED exit sign reusing RED for a no exit sign is just bound to confuse people, remember that existing signs are still allowed.

Also most people here are used to seeing RED exit signs like I am, since I noticed the RED sign much quicker than the GREEN one.

Oh and please try not to bash NA technology in the future like when you were talking about how RED is unsafe and non standard and that we used an "excuse" to use it  , it is very annoying and please remember that different places have DIFFERENT standards because that's how things were like 50hz vs 60Hz. 

[Mike]

If red is a "danger" color why do fire trucks and rescue trucks have red strobes? I find red to be an "alert" color. And why are we fighting over colors anyways? I thought the topic was over the traditional "EXIT" and "SORTIE" signs that ligth up versus the noniluminated running man. Personally, I don't like symbol signs. i perfer signs that are written. Signs like a Do Not Enter or Yield sign with no words on it can be confusing if you don't know what the symbol means. I would choose something like this:
This says "EXIT" (SORTIE also could be added for french speakers) and the man is added. This allows maximum clairity. They should makeone of these that lgiths up though.

[joe_347V]

Yeah honestly this was originally a thread about the phasing out of the classic Canadian exit signs, which was sadly interpreted by some as a chance to flout the superiority of the European system which ultimately led to people bashing the classic Canadian exit signage system.  

Personally if they really wanted to use the running man at least put the red EXIT on it so people who are USED to the old system can still quickly identify the exit.

This isn't even a new concept when we switched to symbol signs in the 70s they installed small tab signs on the bottom like "NO LEFT TURN", "YIELD", "DO NOT ENTER", etc to help motorists who were used to the old system. Some of those tab signs are still used for new installs so some of our signs are basically text and symbol signs. 

[Mike]

Is there a reason why the words are no longer on the canadian traffic signs?

[joe_347V]

They did that to avoid having to post English/French signs and to be more compliant to international standards. 

[Vince]

I understood what the green color of EXIT signs means, and why the red EXIT signs phased out in Canada.
We don't have the green walking man logo in our EXIT signs in Israel, but the text "EXIT" in hebrew instead, but it printed in green as well.
Only the "No Exit" signs in Israel are printed red, and this is because these signs are on doors that may leads you to nothing and you might be caught there and wouldn't find a way to escape, if you enter there.
The green and the red color used as a mode symbol.
Green means safe or no dangers and red means danger and is usually a warning color.
Therefore red Exit signs is illegal, as they causes much confusion because they contains an Non standard combination of a positive sign that says a safety exit with a warning color (And the origin of the used lightsources isn't an excuse to deviate the worldwide standard (What is more important: Brightness over the nature of the sign color, or a less bright sign with a standard color? [Indeed, in Israel, Electrozen produce green LED Exit signs {With either green or white LEDs, but the text always green, regardless of the LEDs color} that are very dim, much dimmer than a hypothetical green version of Canada incandescent EXIT/SORTIE signs, but they are still pronounced in the darkness]).
I think that except Canada, and i don't know how the status in the US about the color of the Exit signs is (Through i saw pictures of american LED Exit signs [The ones with the seperate incandescent/halogen emergency lights] and LED retrofits for incandescent lamps for Exit signs, that had red LEDs instead of green LEDs), no region in the world uses red color for EXIT signs as this is an unusual and not standard.

[...]

Oh and please try not to bash NA technology in the future like when you were talking about how RED is unsafe and non standard and that we used an "excuse" to use it  , it is very annoying and please remember that different places have DIFFERENT standards because that's how things were like 50hz vs 60Hz. 

I feel an stumble here dor123! We do know North America uses a somewhat different electrical system, it's already been said, proven and re-proven. Do you really need to say it again and again and again? This is exactly what gets annoying...

Let's flip it backwards, would you want us to say all the time that Israeli exit signs don't consider people that don't speak Hebrew? Or that Israeli lighting systems are just duplicate versions of North American models? Or things like that?

Of course I exaggerated a little, but it's just to give you a rough idea of how we feel. If I'm not mistaken you've already been warned once about this, don't wait until you get warned once more!