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.
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.
Billboards should be banned for being a distraction and taking up mind space
I could get behind that, but I was more pointing out the hypocrisy rather than endorsing billboards
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.
I’ll even settle for turning off electronic ones at sunset
Yes, but that would anger the corporate overlords, and we simply can’t have that, can we?
Yeah but those make them monies
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.
“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.”
For those down voting, this is straight from the article.
Doesn’t the Federal Highway Administration have anything better to do?
