The punny messages states have been placing on their freeway indicators gained’t be as enjoyable any further. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) introduced new steering final month on how states ought to use these email correspondence boards to convey essential data to drivers, and it doesn’t embody pop-culture references or jokes.
According to the FHWA, freeway messages needs to be “simple, direct, brief, legible, and clear” to drivers. The new rule recommends that states not show messages with “obscure or secondary meanings, such as those with popular culture references, unconventional sign legend syntax, or that are intended to be humorous” on visitors management gadgets. Such playful language is likely to be “misunderstood or understood only by a limited segment of road users” and will “adversely affect respect for the sign.”
It’s a tragic finish to some freeway playfulness, however the brand new guidelines don’t come as a shock. The Feds informed New Jersey close to the top of 2022 to cut it with cute and creative messages, which was one of many first indications that the US authorities would possibly implement new guidelines about freeway visitors indicators.
New Jersey ran some baller messages like: “We’ll be blunt – don’t drive high,” “Get your head out of your apps,” and “Hocus pocus, drive with focus.” But the state additionally needed to inform its drivers to cease taking footage of its inventive indicators, saying in a tweet by means of the New Jersey Department of Transportation that snapping pics is “very dangerous and defeats the message we’re trying to drive home.”
Utah, Delaware, Ohio, Tennessee, and different states have additionally transmitted enjoyable and inventive messages on their freeway indicators.
If you need to be taught extra about how the federal government controls the roads, try the 1,100-page Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways eleventh Edition, revealed final month. The new guidelines for the digital management boards are on web page 519.