Current:Home > InvestNo joke: Feds are banning humorous electronic messages on highways -AssetVision
No joke: Feds are banning humorous electronic messages on highways
View
Date:2025-04-16 19:49:48
PHOENIX (AP) — 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.
Among those that will be disappearing are messages such as “Use Yah Blinkah” in Massachusetts; “Visiting in-laws? Slow down, get there late,” from Ohio; “Don’t drive Star Spangled Hammered,” from Pennsylvania; “Hocus pocus, drive with focus” from New Jersey; and “Hands on the wheel, not your meal” from Arizona.
Arizona has more than 300 electronic signs above its highways. For the last seven years, the state Department of Transportation has held a contest to find the funniest and most creative messages.
Anyone could submit ideas, drawing more than 3,700 entries last year. The winners were “Seatbelts always pass a vibe check” and “I’m just a sign asking drivers to use turn signals.”
“The humor part of it, we kind of like,” said state Rep. David Cook, a Republican from Globe, told Phoenix TV station CBS 5. “I think in Arizona the majority of us do, if not all of us.”
He said he didn’t understand the fuss.
“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.”
veryGood! (51)
Related
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- 'Mass chaos': 2 shot, including teen, after suspect opens fire inside Indiana gym
- What is Taylor Swift's security like at games? Chiefs CEO on her 'talented' bodyguards
- Which states could have abortion on the ballot in 2024?
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- Bachelor’s Joey Graziadei Mixes Up Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Powerball winning numbers for Monday night's drawing, with jackpot now at $214 million
- Bachelor’s Joey Graziadei Mixes Up Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- King Charles III's cancer was caught early, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says
Ranking
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- House to vote on GOP's new standalone Israel aid bill
- Brandon Aiyuk is finally catching attention as vital piece of 49ers' Super Bowl run
- How to recover deleted messages on your iPhone easily in a few steps
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- How to recover deleted messages on your iPhone easily in a few steps
- Sam Reich on revamping the game show - and Dropout's success as a small streamer
- Key moments surrounding the Michigan high school shooting in 2021
Recommendation
The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
A man was killed when a tank exploded at a Michigan oil-pumping station
SZA Reveals Relatable Reason Why She Didn’t Talk to Beyoncé at the 2024 Grammys
Chile wildfire death toll tops 120 as search continues for survivors around Valparaiso
Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
Border deal's prospects in doubt amid Republican opposition ahead of Senate vote
Florida zoo welcomes furry baby Hoffman’s two-toed sloth
Jussie Smollett asks Illinois Supreme Court to toss conviction for staging 2019 attack