Not all signs are straightforward. Some can lead us down a path of side-splitting laughter. Others can create chaos and confusion. Sometimes signs are meant to be funny. Sometimes their strangeness takes us by surprise. There are times we might have to read twice, or thrice to understand what’s being (attempted to be) said. Have you seen one that you just had to take a snap of? I know I have. Wait. Let me check my Instagram…
If you’ve been to Thailand, you might have seen what the locals refer to as “songthaews”. They’re basically pick-up trucks that have been adapted into passenger transport. Once, while traveling the islands, I got into the back of one. After carefully placing my suitcase at my feet, I looked up to the window separating the driver from us passengers. Right there in big, bright orange letters were the words, “Please luggage before smoothing out of the car.” Say what? I still haven’t figured that one out.
I’d like to believe the Thailand songthaew sign was a case of lost in translation. And it probably was. But sometimes signs are deliberately designed to take you on a detour to ‘death by laughter’. There’s a bumper sticker, sold internationally, that reads “Honk if you love Jesus. Text if you want to meet him.” It’s a clever campaign to highlight the dangers of texting while driving.
In America, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says driving at 55 mph while sending or reading a text for five seconds is the same as driving an entire length of a football field with your eyes shut. And that 410 people died in accidents in 2021, because of texting and driving. That's more than one death a day.
And did you see the “Do your duty. Buckle that booty” sign while scrolling through this list? It was part of another witty road safety campaign that had some drivers in stitches. CBS reported the brains behind the highway billboard was someone called Sam Cole, who got clever and creative while working with the Colorado Department of Transportation. Cole designed several similar signs to help the department raise road safety awareness in a time of need.
Ironically, some of the funny road safety signs are a danger themselves. If you like having a good chuckle while reading signs and driving in America, enjoy it while it lasts. As the LA Times reported, “Buckle up, windshields hurt” or “We’ll be blunt, don’t drive high” could soon be a thing of the past.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) announced earlier this year that it would be banning all humorous highway signs by 2026. The agency released this new rule book for signs and other traffic control device regulations. It is getting rid of overhead signs with “obscure meaning, references to popular culture, that are intended to be humorous”. The FHA says funny signs could be misinterpreted and are a dangerous distraction to drivers. It noted that road signs should communicate “simple, direct, brief, legible, and clear” messages.
The debate over side-splitting road signs got heated in 2022, after the New Jersey Department of Transportation rolled out a campaign featuring funny messaging for motorists. Some were so hilarious that the Federal Highway Administration tweeted a warning not to take pictures of them while driving. Soon after, the FHA told New Jersey to 'cease and desist'. But the state’s senator wrote to the agency, saying other states were doing the same. And so began a blanket nationwide ban, begging drivers to keep their eyes on the road.
