{"id":1004,"date":"2024-01-17T06:33:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T06:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/?p=1004"},"modified":"2024-01-20T02:36:56","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T02:36:56","slug":"fed-regulations-no-more-humor-in-highway-signs-safety-measure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/fed-regulations-no-more-humor-in-highway-signs-safety-measure\/","title":{"rendered":"US State highway signs have two years to stop being funny: no more “use yah blinkah” in Massachusetts or “Hocus Pocus, drive with focus” in New Jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(quote)

\n\nTough crowd? Feds putting end to \u2018humorous\u2019 highway signs to prioritize safety<\/a>
\nThe Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is cracking down on \u201chumorous\u201d digital signs that have been cracking smiles on drivers all across the US.

\n\nThe days an Ohio highway tells drivers to \u201cslow down\u201d to arrive at the in-laws late or a New Jersey road advising Halloween fans to \u201cHocus Pocus, drive with focus\u201d will soon be gone.

\n\nIn December, the FHWA released its latest manual for road managers nationwide, advising that messaging should be \u201csimple, direct, brief, legible, and clear.\u201d FHWA advised that signs with \u201csecondary meanings,\u201d like pop culture references that are \u201cintended to be humorous\u201d should be cut because there\u2019s the off-chance that it \u201crequires greater time to process and understand.\u201d

\n\nMassachusetts will no longer be able to warn drivers to \u201cuse yah blinkah\u201d and Arizonans will no longer see \u201cjust a sign asking a driver to use turn signals,\u201d among the many other hilarious signs popping up along the interstates.

\n\n\u201cThe safety of all road users is the priority,\u201d a spokesperson told Axios. \u201cStates are expected to exercise good judgment in how and when they use changeable message signs for traffic safety messages, and in their specific wording of the messages.\u201d

\n\nBut don\u2019t be sad just yet! The government agency is giving state transportation departments two years to go on their victory laps and crack their best jokes before the rule goes completely into effect.

\n\nSuch messaging, the administration notes, “might be misunderstood or understood only by a limited segment of road users and require greater time to process and understand.”<\/a>\nZoom out: Federal officials have regarded these fun messages as a hazard for years, arguing that they might impose certain safety risks due to distractions or even confusion among drivers, per the Washington Post.

\n\nSome states have taken their funny road signs to the next level, including Arizona, which holds its own safety message contest. The Arizona Department of Transportation said its 2023 winners, based on over 3,700 submissions, included: “I’m just a sign asking a driver to use turn signals” and “Seatbelts always pass the vibe check.”

\n\n(unquote)

\n\nImage courtesy OhioDepartmentOfTransportation\/Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(quote) Tough crowd? Feds putting end to \u2018humorous\u2019 highway signs to prioritize safety The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is cracking down on \u201chumorous\u201d digital signs that have been cracking smiles on drivers all across the US. The days an Ohio highway tells drivers to \u201cslow down\u201d to arrive at theRead More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,6,12],"tags":[71,43,74,59,42,24,35,28,114,30],"class_list":["entry","author-blog_admin","post-1004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-art-and-poem","category-figures-and-facts","category-funny-bone","category-us-and-world","tag-automotive","tag-funny","tag-government","tag-health","tag-humor","tag-law","tag-news","tag-places","tag-transportation","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldculturepictorial.com\/wcp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}