First there was making the states renumber their highway exits, probably because some clown at the FHWA is (or was) too stupid to read a map or use a GPS. Now those same worthies are "strongly advising" states not to have electronic signs with funny or quirky messages. Those bureaucrats with too much time on their hands and a deep-felt need to stick their nibs into everything seem to think that the signs are distracting and that drivers should be focused on the road.
Well, if they really want to do that, why not ban billboards, especially the LED ones that change messages? Why not ban road signs, since drivers have to read them and understand them, instead of looking at the road.
If you're curious about what the Federales think road signs should be like, well, they've got five hundred or so pages on that subject in this here manual.
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6 comments:
It's very backwards--the distraction is the point: you're supposed the read the message. Being eye-catching helps make the message memorable. They have no sense of fun, or advertising.
I wonder how many focus groups, meetings, video conferences etc, were needed or was it one comment from one person that they were offended. The same person who would remind the teacher they forgot to assign homework over Christmas vacation.
I am an Old and I don't drive well at night. I grew up in the SF Bay area and had been used to billboards since I was a kid. The last time I was in the Bay, it was insane with all the LED billboards flashing on the highway. They seem to light up the freeway better than the street lights. Distraction is their middle name. If the Feds ever gave a crap about distracted driving, I'd believe they would have to can all the LED billboards. And just maybe light up the offramp signs in a better way, they are too dim to really see far enough in advance.
w3ski
Never drove off the road or hit another car checking a billboard, signage, or this:
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-confusing-road-signs-in-new-york-city-40036068.html
I still like driving cars with manual transmissions. Will there be an age cutoff for that at some point or will I have to get a physical to prove I can?
There's no improvement with this edict. I doubt the death rate from sign humor is even a blip on the chart of things that kill while driving.
Put efforts into better street lighting, sign clarity, road surfacing and pot hole repair, sanding and plowing when it's bad weather, and driver training. ETC!
They get paid to do this. These are the same low grade drones who have office dramas and cheap sordid extra-marital romances. These are the people who go home and watch television. Even their jokes are crap, because they never like a joke, because they are afraid it might be on them.
I would like to say, since I am old, and have driven long before GPS (never use one)actually know how to read a map. But I do use the exit signs by number at times along with the mile and tenth mile markers to make sure I get the right exit and in the right lane especially if I want to pass a 50MPH vehicle close to where the exit is. Near a big city where the exits are plentiful I think its best to know exactly where I am. Being mindful of lane/road closures or delays is the only reason I read those digital freeway signs and never seen an amusing one. Have traveled across the U.S. with only an old dogeared atlas. Not too many free maps anymore.
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