Comments by "Jovet" (@jovetj) on "Feds Order States to Stop with the Silly Road Signs" video.
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@RRW359 Well, for one thing, it would be the government "restricting" the government... which is not what the Constitution does or intends at all. The idea this is a "First Amendment" issue is thus preposterous.
Second of all, all of our rights have reasonable limitations. You don't have unlimited free speech—you can't incite a riot, or yell FIRE and cause a panic, or libel or slander someone, or lie under oath, or lie to the police, etcetera.
Third, states are not entities in the same manner that people or corporations are.
Forth, the context in this video is pretty misconstrued. The "1100 page document" is actually the latest revision of the FHWA-created standards manual for all road signs, pavement markings, traffic signals, etcetera. Without this standards manual, STOP signs could look different in each state, Red might mean stop in one state but go in another, and road construction zones would probably be a chaotic lottery of survival. The actual pertinent section of this (legally binding) standards manual with regard to these signs is 10 pages long.
Fifth, since the creation of this standards manual in 1935, states have been pretty eager to follow it because traffic engineers (who also wrote the manual) know that most drivers are morons and need consistency and lots of hand-holding. Safer roads are better for everyone. But, of course, if that's not good enough for your state (looking at you, California), each state can craft its own version of the standards manual to follow as long as it's "substantially conformant" with the federal one. At the time I write this, 10 states have written their own standards manuals, and 22 have adopted the federal one with minor revisions via supplement.
Sixth, if you actually go and read the pertinent parts of the Manual (which anyone can download and read for himself), you'll learn that it largely mandates:
– text must be succinct and to the point, and abbreviations must be approved ones;
– sign message text must be of appropriate color and size;
– animation, flashing, or other transition effects are not allowed;
– such signs are intended to display immediately-pertinent control, guide, or warning information to motorists;
– no static text or manufacturer logos or names are allowed on the face of the sign;
– state agencies using these signs must have a developed policy on their use;
– special messages such as for AMBER alerts, civil defense, homeland security, emergency status may be displayed but must not supplant important traffic information;
– messages conveying product or services advertising, or (for example) reminders to renew your driver's license, get vaccinated, attend church, or water your plans are strictly forbidden;
– messages promoting safety campaigns are allowed as long as do not supplant important traffic information;
– all messages should be carefully worded to provide the clearest meaning to the most people; two phrases of up to three lines of text are maximum; abbreviations should be avoided where space allows full words.
Finally, this standards manual has historically represented concise and just rulemaking, probably some of the best and most effective by the federal government. You can thank a traffic engineer.
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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.
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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.
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