Where boring is better

Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

For a few years, states have  been using quirky messaging on highway signs to grab drivers’ eyeballs. Consider: Massachusetts’s “Use Yah Blinkah” and  a sign on Boston’s flood-prone Morrissey Boulevard, “Wicked High Tide.”

Very cute? Maybe. But what about those people from outside the region who might not understand local word uses and pronunciations, which in the Boston area are particularly bizarre (and to me often unpleasant). Sorry to be a bore, but highway signs, meant to promote safety and smooth traffic, don’t strike me as a good place for whimsy.

The Federal Highway Administration puts it well :

“Messages with obscure or secondary meanings, such as those with popular culture references, unconventional sign legend syntax, or that are intended to be humorous, should not be used as they might be misunderstood or understood only by a limited segment of road users and require greater time to process and understand. Similarly, slogan-type messages and the display of statistical information should not be used.”

Hit this link:

https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/kno_11th_Edition.htm