This sign has simple directions, but instead of saying that people should stay on the path and stay off the road, it states that "foot traffic" should stay on the path.
What goes into the design of a sign for parks? I like the color that has been used and that the sign is on a wooden post. This blends well with the natural setting. However, at well-visited sites such as Torrey Pines State Reserve, are the words used on signs vetted by any non-native speakers of English? I sincerely doubt it.
The choice of "foot traffic" as the subject of these phrasal verbs (stay on and stay off) could have been meant to be all-inclusive. I have to admit there are other animals besides people that have feet. Maybe this is a way to include dogs' feet along with people's feet in one sign. Translation: "All animals with feet that produce traffic" should move on the trail and not on the paved road.
Reading signs has definitely made me much more aware of all the ways that English can confuse its readers and why signs are often NOT read. They may have been put there as protection for the parks in case of a law suit by a pedestrian who gets hit by a car while walking in the street rather than staying on the path. What do you think?
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