NO MORE FUNNY HIGHWAY SIGNS? SAY IT AIN'T SO!
Humour serves a purpose in some circumstances, says Lorraine Sommerfeld
The New York Times recently reported the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHA) had told states in that country they should no longer use road signage to make people laugh. It's not a new directive: the agency has been threatening states that have a sense of humour for a few years now, but it appears there is an impasse within the bureaucracy.
There are mountains of rules and regulations outlining those things about highway signage that should be kept front of mind for designers and planners: proper nighttime illumination; distance from the thing indicated on the sign (to give drivers time to process the information); adherence to nationally accepted colours and symbols; and standardized letter and number heights.
But this new directive is about those programmable electronic signs, either anchored or portable, that announce things like road or weather conditions, or congestion.they give a driver information on immediate concerns regarding the road ahead.
When there are no immediate concerns regarding the road ahead, many jurisdictions have taken to spicing up road life, just a little: local officials have been firing off the jokes and puns in an effort to keep drivers mindful of speeding, talking on their phones, or engaging in other dangerous behaviours contributing to escalating road deaths.
Well, the FHA asked them to stop. Then it told them to stop. Now, it says they should “use good judgment,” which means you'll no doubt be seeing fewer funny signs. That's too bad.
If I'm in Boston and an overhead sign says “Use Ya Blinkah,” I'm going to notice that, laugh, and hope it reminds some fellow travellers to use their blinkahs. The FHA says “messages with obscure or secondary meanings, such as those with popular culture references, unconventional sign legend syntax, or that are intended to be humorous, should not be used.”
Bah. It's not like they're using euphemisms for “snow squall ahead” or “take next exit to avoid congestion.” The FHA, in its 2021 redraft of the 864-page Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, states the “development of a signing system for freeways and expressways is approached on the premise that the signing is primarily for the benefit and direction of road users who are unfamiliar with the route or area.” Sure, for highway signage, exits, and other permanent installations. But states are really only playing with the electronic signs.
Canada uses a lot of visual images on its highway signage, as do many countries where many languages are spoken. They are often humorous, and they are also often open to interpretation. I've seen more “rocks falling” signs in more countries than I care to remember. Some are straightforward, just showing a high cliff and rocks hurtling down; others show little people freaking out or lying dead near the rocks. I've been stuck behind rock slides in B.C., Mexico, and Argentina. I subsequently take those warning signs very seriously, even as people fly by them every day.
The impermanence of these electronic signs is what makes them the perfect conduit for a laugh.
A driver can glance at it, smile or not, and carry on. If there is blowing snow or a pileup around the next bend, that is what the sign would be saying. State officials know the primary goal of these computer-controlled signs is safety; when all is chugging along according to plan, why not give drivers a reason to take their eyes off their phones or their infotainment systems?
“We tend to notice parts of our environment that we have not yet experienced. We also tend to tune out things that are familiar,” explains a paper on how our brain neurons work.
While travellers new to the route may be keenly processing every sign, for the many more who traverse the same route day after day, they're tuning out much of it.