Comments by "Jovet" (@jovetj) on "Steve Lehto" channel.

  1. I read it. I have it open right now. The video author is mistaken, it's 10 pages relevant to the topic he's talking about. Clickbait or ignorance, not sure which.
    1
  2. And signs like these won't be changing their behavior, either.
    1
  3. Quote Section 1B.01: The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD) is incorporated by reference in 23 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 655, Subpart F and shall be recognized as the national standard for all traffic control devices installed on any street, highway, bikeway, or site roadway open to public travel (see definition in Section 1C.02) in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 109(d) and 402(a). In accordance with 23 CFR 655.603(a), the MUTCD shall apply to all of the following types of facilities: A. Any street, roadway, or bikeway open to public travel, either publicly or privately owned; B. Streets and roadways on sites that are off the public right-of-way that are open to public travel without full-time access restrictions. Examples include roadways within shopping centers, office parks, airports, sports arenas, other similar business and/or recreation facilities, governmental office complexes, schools, universities, recreational parks, and other similar publicly-owned complexes and/or recreation facilities. The above-described examples of streets and roadways are referred to in this Manual as site roadways open to public travel; C. Publicly-owned toll roads, including those under the jurisdiction of a public agency, public authority, or public-private partnership; D. Privately-owned toll roads where the public is allowed to travel without access restriction. This includes gated toll roads or roadways where the general public is able to pay to access the facility; and E. Grade crossings of publicly-owned roadways with railroads or light rail transit. The MUTCD shall not apply to the following types of facilities: A. Roadways within private gated properties where access to the general public is restricted at all times; B. Grade crossings of privately-owned roadways with railroads; and C. Parking areas, including the driving aisles within those parking areas, that are either publicly or privately owned. (end quote) The short answer is: Money. No compliance, no federal improvement project money.
    1
  4. The MUTCD (the full 1160 page document that was just updated by the FHWA for the first proper time in 14 years) doesn't come out of nowhere. There are many committees, many data-driven engineering studies and considerations, and even input from private citizens is taken into account. It's probably some of the fairest and just rulemaking our government actually does. Probably.
    1
  5. Each sign location is different. Some signs will find more practical use than others. "Practical use" means giving critical, timely information or warning to motorists about an unexpected yet temporary situation on the road ahead. Any other use than this could be considered frivolous.
    1
  6. No they do not count as silly signs. The whole point of these signs is to give practical and timely information to road travelers.
    1
  7. I think you don't grasp the costs of things, especially when government and "safety" are involved. The "Big Green Signs" over the interstate that tell you how many miles away your exit is, or which lane to be in for a particular exit, those alone are tens of thousands of dollars (depending on how many signs/panels each one actually needs and whether they're free standing or attached to another structure such as a bridge). The fancy, permanent, variable message signs are going to probably start at 50K and could easily be over three times that. As newer ones are LED-based, they don't take that much power to operate. Whether they need to operate continuously or only when critically needed is a separate argument that can be had. But there is also an ongoing cost for maintenance, testing, and then the people that actually configure and operate them. But, waste of money? Every situation is different. I remember as a child in the early 80s there were smaller versions of these around, and they all disappeared by the mid 90s. Nowadays, bigger fancier versions are all over roads (literally) everywhere. They can provide critical timely information for drivers, such as suggesting to exit because there's a huge accident ahead, or that the road is closed, or something else unexpected and unanticipated awaits. I imagine some of these installations are more-useful for this purpose than others. The ones not as usual would be a waste of money.
    1
  8. Which is a stupid law. Pedestrians should only have the right-of-way at marked and signed crosswalks.
    1
  9. That's what billboards were invented for. These road signs are too important and too expensive to be billboards.
    1
  10. I think it's okay. The unwieldy part is its size. 200 pages is a lot bigger! But a lot of things have changed in 14 years, too.
    1
  11. Worse than that, they will not notice when an important and critical message is displayed instead. The entire sign will be tuned out of noticing.
    1
  12. Nah, it's only a few pages in a new 1160 page document that covers everything about controlling and guiding traffic on roadways.
    1
  13. "Fun will now commence."
    1
  14. No, it couldn't be.
    1
  15. Reading text is a normal function of driving. Reading your phone or writing text is not.
    1
  16. They didn't. It's a few pages in a 1160-page set of standards and guidelines about how safety and control devices on all roadways in the USA are to be implemented. This standard is called The Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices and has been essential for the operation of our country/society so that each state doesn't do whatever the hell it wants where drivers would cross into another state and have no idea what is going on. A new edition of this Manual just came out last month, 14 years after the previous one. Government bureaucracy? Yes—lots of committees, lots of talk, lots of experts. Waste of money? Absolutely not! More people should know about the MUTCD—every driver is affected by it. And anyone can go download and read it.
    1
  17. I think the answer is Yes. If you drive past the same sign every day and 99.99% of the time it has some pedantic message on it like "Click It or Ticket" you're going to quickly learn to ignore that sign. The 0.01% of the time that sign shows information that may assist you and your fellow drivers, you're less likely to notice it. It's the same as ignoring billboards. People tend to tune them out. But these expensive signs should not be used as billboards! And there is no violation of the First or Tenth Amendments. The government cannot be "protected from any part of the Constitution in general, but the First Amendment certainly does not forbid the government from censoring itself.
    1
  18. Perhaps you have never imagined the SHEER CHAOS that would ensue if all of the road signs, markings, traffic signals, etcetera were different in each state.
    1
  19. It's so funny how people are different. I think that television show is awful. It's not imaginative or entertaining or funny at all.
    1
  20. We should strive for that anyways.
    1
  21. I think there's a fine line between "witty and memorable" and "over-the-top and sad". We'll never agree on that line, so it's best to keep it pretty conservative. No misery required.
    1
  22. No, the new standards manual for all traffic controls (e.g. road signs, lane stripes, traffic signals, etc.) in the USA is 1160 pages. The part actually talking about these signs is 10 pages long.
    1
  23. It's literally the government's job to ensure safety and consistency on the roadways. If that weren't the case, then STOP signs (for example) could look different in every state, some states would have white center lines (like much of Europe) instead of yellow, and construction zones would be incredibly dangerous. I get that some humor makes some of the safety messages more memorable. But everyone's sense of humor is different, and everyone's intelligence and frame-of-reference are also different. Important messages need to be relatable by the vast majority of drivers. And frivolous messages on these variable message signs should be minimized, or they'll be quickly be learned to be ignored.
    1
  24. That's definitely illegal.
    1
  25. These days, it prints it.
    1
  26. Everyone needs to take driving more seriously. The amount of complacency, irreverence, and stupidity on the road today is mind-numbing. Anyone that doubts this can watch some of the plethora of "bad driving" videos around on this here internet. What other "ill" of society can you picture that kills 40000–50000 people each year but isn't banned outright?
    1
  27. Please go read your Constitution. There is no "state's right to free speech." And, for God's sake, the First Amendment cannot prevent the government from censoring itself! There is a very good reason why STOP signs look the same in all fifty states, and repression of expression is not the reason!!
    1
  28. Yes. And when it comes to ignorant and often stupid drivers, that's definitely the most sensible and safest option.
    1