Traffic Cones, What do You Know About Them?

Traffic cones are one of those things that seem to have been around forever. Of course they haven't been so I thought that I would write an article about their history and the various ways that they are now used.

Traffic cones are thought to have originally been created in 1914 by Charles P. Rudebaker and were different to modern day traffic cones as they were made in concrete! Their primary function has always been that of traffic management and diversion such as when road works are taking place and when traffic needs to be moved into a different direction from the norm.

Over time as technology has developed, more featured have been added to traffic cones to improve the functions they can perform. For exampe, retroflective collars have been added to them which is now required to meet the requirements in theUS Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

Within the UK, traffic cones were first introduced during the 1950s by The Met Police and the first ones that were introduced here were made of wood and the next type of material used was natural and now, of course, they are made of plastic. A company called Linvale produced them and when they made the first batch of rubber cones they were too expensive to produce along with being heavy which is why plastic was eventually used.

It was in 1982 that traffic cones became standardised with five companies making them at this time although there are now three. An interesting fact is that there are more of them in Britain than in the rest of the world!

Another way that traffic cones are used within our culture is to steal them! Particulalrly popular amongst students, they are generally picked up and taken as a mark of rebellion and general mischief.

An interesting fact about traffic cones is that they also are called traffic pylons, road cones, highway cones, safety cones, construction cones or witches' hats. David Morgan from Burford in England hold the Guiness World Record for the biggest collection of cones and has more than 550! More information can be found here. There is a Traffic Cone Preservation Society.