No More Jokes on Interstate Highway EMCs

While driving down the interstate, you may have seen one or more humorous messages on the electronic message boards above the road. One read, “Turn signals, the original instant messaging.” Another stated, “Alcohol you later. Don’t drink and drive,” according to a Jan. 17 article in USA Today. 

According to the newly updated US Federal Highway Administration manual, these funny messages are going to quickly disappear. Overhead electronic signs with “obscure meanings, references to pop culture or those intended to be funny” will be phased out nationwide over the next couple of years because “they can be misunderstood or distracting to drivers,” the Associated Press reported.

Signs should be “simple, direct, brief, legible and clear,” and must only be used to “relay important information,” including warning drivers of crashes ahead, inclement weather conditions or traffic delays, the AP reported.

Whether this will lead to drivers paying closer attention to more serious messages remains to be seen. 

Read the full article at USA Today.