No Joke: Feds Are Banning Humorous Electronic Messages On Highways - Slashdot
source link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/01/15/1745207/no-joke-feds-are-banning-humorous-electronic-messages-on-highways
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No Joke: Feds Are Banning Humorous Electronic Messages On Highways
schwit1 writes: 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. The agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, said signs should be "simple, direct, brief, legible and clear" and only be used for important information such as warning drivers of crashes ahead, adverse weather conditions and traffic delays. Seatbelt reminders and warnings about the dangers of speeding or driving impaired are also allowed.
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Feds: "Highway safety signs that are humorous and memorable are too dangerous to allow"
Also feds: "Oh your state wants to line the death-road with 500 million billboards filled with humorous and memorable advertisements? That's fine."
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In fact I would say getting the eyes of drivers off the road is the primary design requirement of a commercial billboard.
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You do know the difference between a government sign to display safety notices such as road closures or accidents, and a sign put up by a private company to advertise, don't you?
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No, I don't. Explain it to me. Be sure to include an analysis of highway safety and make it at least 1000 words.
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Quonset does have a point. The signs the feds are referring to are above the road and not on the side, like this one [themessenger.com], and the messages they're referring to are ones like this [townnews.com]. The corporate ones are these [dreamstime.com].
There is a difference. Humor and jokes have no place on the safety notice boards above the highway and those should not distract drivers unless the message is urgent. What gets put on the side of the road is only lightly controlled by the government and the government doesn't have much control over-
>There is a difference. Humor and jokes have no place on the safety notice boards above the highway and those should not distract drivers unless the message is urgent.
Obvious counterpoint: adding humor in messages makes people reflect on their content more, and therefore the safety message gets more taken to heart.
>What gets put on the side of the road is only lightly controlled by the government and the government doesn't have much control over them, nor should it.
Places that allow billboards have ci
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That's referencing getting started with a brand new billboard. I all likelihood, a few companies own all the billboards as they have leased the ground from the owner and have worked with the state/county/local to get all the permits, with some caveats being in the contracts, like no profanity, no nudity (breasts, ass, and genitals most likely, since I've seen many for strip clubs in the i-80 tri-state corridor), and that's probably about it. I am fairly certain that if I wanted to advertise my consulting
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What real difference is there in the effect on the drivers? Companies don't get to do hazardous shit just because they're compan- Oh wait, it's America. Never mind.
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Let's be clear on the exact situation. This is intended for electronic Traffic Safety Messages that the states and cities deploy on federal highway systems. For example: "Please follow other vehicles at a safe distance" would be an example. As such the exact wording of a traffic safety message is
So in summary, these specific traffic messages should not be humorous. This is not for all signs. This is not for billboards. This is not for all messages. I also do not think this only applies to federal roads. A
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I didn't say it's for all signs or all billboards. I'm aware of what type of signage this applies to.
Do you know what a billboard is, what they look like, and what their purpose is? Have you driven on highways that have billboards?
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No, I don't know what a billboard looks like. I did a few years ago, but a bunch of new designs have appeared, and I don't know them all. One recently looked like a hot air balloon.
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And I did not say otherwise. I am clarifying exactly what situation the directive applies.
Why would you even ask that question? They are everywhere. While they are not as common as they once have been, they still exist.
Every day I drive. Every single day. Why is it you assume someone does not know what a billboard looks like?
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>Why would you even ask that question? They are everywhere. While they are not as common as they once have been, they still exist. Every day I drive. Every single day. Why is it you assume someone does not know what a billboard looks like?
There are numerous states and local areas where billboards next to highways are illegal
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The difference is as a driver, I don't pay attention to billboards. My passengers are free to. But as a driver, I pay attention to road signs, because they might require me to adapt my driving.
Your little joke is my attention being diverted trying to get important information, only to end up being distracted instead.
Leave it to the Internet to not understand the simple distinction.
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>The difference is as a driver, I don't pay attention to billboards.
Billions of corporate dollars ensure that you do. You glance at them, same as you do road signs.
They're illuminated, bright, flashy, attention-grabbing. Purposefully designed to make you glance at them.
>Leave it to the Internet to not understand the simple distinction.
Leave it to you to lie for the sake of an anonymous Internet argument.
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The problem isn't that they're humorous. Humorous static billboards are fine.
The problem with the humorous messages on electronic signs is that they *change* all the time, often too fast for people to read, but people want to read them, so then they're watching the stupid sign for the message to come back, instead of, you know, watching where they're driving.
Honestly the correct solution is to disallow electronic signs that change more often than once a minute on roads with a speed limit above some cutoff
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