220
submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

It’s no joke. Humorous and quirky messages on electronic signs will soon disappear from highways and freeways across the country.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has given states two years to implement all the changes outlined in its new 1,100-page manual released last month, including rules that spells out how signs and other traffic control devices are regulated.

Administration officials said overhead electronic signs with obscure meanings, references to pop culture or those intended to be funny will be banned in 2026 because they can be misunderstood or distracting to drivers.

top 44 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 135 points 9 months ago

If this is distracting, so are ads: Ban them too!

[-] RGB3x3@lemmy.world 56 points 9 months ago

Fuck Billboards and 50 ft tall signs.

They completely ruin natural scenery.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 34 points 9 months ago

But don't you want to know that every child is a gift from God and abortion is MURDER?

[-] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

Are those a thing outside the south? Because as soon as you pass through mid Virginia and pass the giant confederate flag, BOOM. Jesus Jesus jesus

[-] rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago

They are in much of the west as well

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

They're a thing here in Indiana, but that almost doesn't count as outside the south.

[-] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 months ago

Virginia doesn't allow billboards, thank goodness.

[-] superduperenigma@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago

"It's the road that's distracting you from our gauche advertisement eyesores, not the other way around!"

-Corporations

[-] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 117 points 9 months ago

I’ve enjoyed these kinds of signs here in NJ. They’re no more distracting than billboards and actually get safety messages across better through humor. I think this is a bad idea.

[-] AtHeartEngineer@lemmy.world 117 points 9 months ago

Billboards should be banned for being a distraction and taking up mind space

[-] ivanafterall@kbin.social 36 points 9 months ago

This is why I close my eyes when I drive, so they can't force the billboards into my brain.

[-] TargaryenTKE@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Clown college? Pfft, you can't eat that

[-] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 24 points 9 months ago

I could get behind that, but I was more pointing out the hypocrisy rather than endorsing billboards

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 13 points 9 months ago

I can see how someone whose first language isn't English could have a hard time telling if an official sign is an important message or a humorous one. That's not an issue for billboards because those never have important information.

[-] deweydecibel@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

This is exactly what it is. Nothing stopping these local highway patrol and safety departments from erecting electronic signs on the side of the highway for all their cute messages.

It's that they're using the big electronic ones that are overhead while driving which should be uniformly easy to understand, simple, and official.

Basically, if there's a message on a sign above the actual road and it takes you more than a second to understand what it's trying to say, it needs to be revamped.

[-] deweydecibel@lemmy.world 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

It's not hypocrisy because the signs they're talking about are not in the same places as billboards. There are regulations about how far back billboards have to be. The signs in question here are the ones that are actually over the road or literally on the side of it, not 20 yards back.

And part of the reason that they don't let billboards just hover literally over top of the roads is because they're distracting. Signage that is on the road needs to have an official purpose and convey information that is relevant to the driver, and that information has to be delivered in a simple, uniform, and clear manner.

[-] Empricorn@feddit.nl 14 points 9 months ago

They are in Vermont. Be the change you want to see!

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Several other states too. Not enough.

[-] Empricorn@feddit.nl 3 points 9 months ago

Oh? I thought Vermont was unique in that! Still, as you said, definitely not enough...

[-] girthero@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

I'll even settle for turning off electronic ones at sunset

[-] stevedidWHAT@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Yeah but those make them monies

[-] pennomi@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Yes, but that would anger the corporate overlords, and we simply can’t have that, can we?

[-] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 22 points 9 months ago

If humorous signs are too big of a distraction, billboards should also be banned.

There's an electronic billboard in my town that suddenly becomes visible as you go around a curve in a highway with a complicated exit at the end. Accidents happen there all the time and I think the momentary distraction of the billboard changing at that critical point is part of the reason why.

[-] TheMightyCanuck@sh.itjust.works 64 points 9 months ago

Stop right there criminal scum!

[-] gregorum@lemm.ee -4 points 9 months ago

the problem in the lower pic is the cars, not the signs.

well, also the signs, but i prefer them to the cars.

[-] reddig33@lemmy.world 36 points 9 months ago

Someone in the federal govt has too much time on their hands. Advertising studies have shown that these are the kinds of messages you need on “billboards” to attract attention and improve retention.

[-] Bruce_Wayne@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago

“Why are you trying to have the federal government come in and tell us what we can do in our own state? Prime example that the federal government is not focusing on what they need to be.”

[-] Bruce_Wayne@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

For those down voting, this is straight from the article.

[-] Lojcs@lemm.ee 12 points 9 months ago

Isn't the point to keep drivers awake by entertaining them? I've always been told the challenge of long road driving is the monotonousity, and aside from that it's easier since everyone is travelling in the same direction at the same speed

[-] SGGeorwell@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

No, the point is to get people to pay attention to the sign.

[-] valek879@sh.itjust.works 8 points 9 months ago
[-] NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago

It’s like the homeless guy with the sign that says “Why lie? I want beer.”

I've only given money to pan handlers twice.

The first time the guy came up and said, "Hey, man, got any spare change? Nigga needs to get drunk."

The second time was a group of guys searching for change in their car, and one asked if I had a quarter or something because they were trying to scrape together enough for a dime bag.

This was in Baton Rouge where every gas station had a resident drug addict with some crazy bullshit story about why they needed money, so I appreciated the honesty.

[-] Sparrow_1029@programming.dev 10 points 9 months ago

*sigh can't have any fun in the DOT I guess

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

Doesn't the Federal Highway Administration have anything better to do?

[-] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Good thing the locks on them are shitty and that they don't usually ever change the default password from 'DOTS.'

If the default password doesn't work, 'DIPY' as a password supposedly resets the password to the default 'DOTS.'

Citizens, together we can keep jokey signs on the roads.


Also, for a joke:

Ain't no Federal Highway Administration in the Constitution!

States Rights!!!!

[-] ramble81@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago

States rights, federal money… that’s how they got the drinking age increased and the speed limits passed: “do it or we’ll yank your federal road money you get”

[-] FunkyMonk@kbin.social -2 points 9 months ago

Ah so the holograms against the skyline of Night City of ad feed from the game 'Don't Build the Oppresionator' is being made, just on que.

this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
220 points (98.7% liked)

News

23287 readers
3786 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS