# Highway Sign in Pennsylvania. Hmmmm. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 8, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877 "2004-08-08T12:45:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Br\_er\_Lapin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Br\_er\_Lapin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Br_er_Lapin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/41 "2004-08-10T01:50:56Z")
There is also at least one sign somewhere in the middleish of PA that says: “watch for drunk drivers” Which I suppose is good advice, but it’s the whole “Oh, yeah, drunk drivers – well, we’ve given up on them. Just keep your eyes peeled,” part that makes me laugh. I’ve also seen a sign near New Hope (actually, I think it’s on the Jersey side) by the river. The sign is on the side of a road which runs along side a park-type area. It’s a picture of a bench with a tree toppling over onto the bench. I’d like to know what this signifies. If there is so much of a danger of being killed by a falling tree in the area, why not remove the benches and save a few lives? sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/42 "2004-08-10T03:36:09Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > Is that why they’re always talking about the IDOT here? > > _rimshot_ Someday I will be mature enough to read IDOT correctly. That day is not yet here. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/43 "2004-08-10T03:39:39Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > So I’m the only one who envisioned a road crew of dirty jeans and scuffed workboots, all cut off at the waist? Nope. PennDOT crews are fulla women. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/44 "2004-08-10T12:36:49Z")
Slight hijack. The Factotrix and I drove through Philly last week (we were heading for Maine, and her kids wanted to see that museum where they keep parts of people in jars.) We saw a few billboards in the city that said “I Hate Steven Springer.” Can any Philly/NJ Dopers explain just what in Og’s Arse this means? We were thinking some kind of radio promotion (new DJ coming to town,) but would still like to know the story. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/45 "2004-08-10T14:29:05Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Someday I will be mature enough to read IDOT correctly. > > That day is not yet here. I prefer to think of that as truth in advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/46 "2004-08-10T15:00:01Z")
One of my favorite signs is a billboard that says “Get hammered, get nailed”. And it’s supposed to make you not drink? :smack: It’s either in South GA or AL. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/47 "2004-08-10T15:43:00Z")
“Buckle up” seat belt signs here in Connecticut feature a strange-looking silhouette of a creature wearing a seatbelt. [It’s supposed to be E.T.](http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/research/BuckleUp/images/buckleuplogo.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/48 "2004-08-13T11:35:20Z")
Hey now. A large percentage of Connecticut’s residents do in fact have bodies shaped like a box of Saltines and heads the exact shape of a roller skate key turned vertically.’ They’re just playing to their audience. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/49 "2004-08-13T13:33:50Z")
I really thought this thread was going to be about the big sign that says “Pennsylvania: America Starts Here!” This sign, just west of the state line on I-80, inspires resentment in some people. You could read it as implying that New Jersey lies outside the boundaries of America. Kind of like “Forget about that place you left behind! You’re in America now, Nancy!” ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/50 "2004-08-13T14:03:43Z")
Look. If Nancy Sinatra cannot handle the fact that New Jersey is filled with shady characters, midway carney’s, oil refineries, medical waste filling the beaches, and a variety of unnerving ne’er do wells, that’s her problem. As the sign points out with a simplicity grace and elegance that is the very hallmark of Pennsylvania, once you cross the river heading west at Philipsburg you are home free !!! **What???** 😛 \*\* on the upside, New Jersey has a Governor right now with the spine to out himself to the entire country, and do it with honesty, dignity and class. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/51 "2004-08-13T14:06:32Z")
> [@](#): > > I really thought this thread was going to be about the big sign that says “Pennsylvania: America Starts Here!” This sign, just west of the state line on I-80, inspires resentment in some people. You could read it as implying that New Jersey lies outside the boundaries of America. Kind of like “Forget about that place you left behind! You’re in America now, Nancy!” Well, “Pennsylvania: gateway to Ohio” didn’t have quite the right ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/52 "2004-08-13T15:39:42Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Well, “Pennsylvania: gateway to Ohio” didn’t have quite the right ring to it. After my first NJ to Ohio trip, I’d have to nominate “Pennsylvania: It’s A Helluvalot Bigger Than You Think”. ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/53 "2004-08-13T15:52:57Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > The work involves displaying PA natural attractions such as: > > PA State horse: DETOUR\>\>\> > PA State sign: REDUCE SPEED-CONSTRUCTION AHEAD > PA State mineral: Asphalt > PA State bird: The reflective jacketed highway flagger, _Flaggus waggus_. Bird is known by its distinctive call: _Stop. Slow. Stop. Slow._ Bird inhabits statewide environs where road cones and barrels are found. Birds may be captured using tar lures and the “backup alarm” call: _beep, beep, beep._ Often found in groups of 6 or more, sleeping during daytime hours in yellow trucks. Yes, that would be Northern Utah. Swear to God we have two seasons here: winter and construction. And you can’t drive in either of them… And we won’t even discuss where they overlap! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/54 "2004-08-13T17:00:41Z")
Here in Michigan, whenever they start some major road construction project that’s going to inconvenience people for a while, they post a sign at the beginning of the construction zone that says, “This short-term delay means long-term relief.” I always mentally re-arrange that into “This long-term delay means short-term relief.” That would be a more realistic assessment. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877/55 "2004-08-13T17:56:01Z")
California used to have a collection of signs along I80 coming down from the mountains advising truckers on what’s ahead. They were amusing things like “Let er drift - Let 'em cool” - advice to keep engine RPM (and speed) low and let the brakes cool down in order to handle the long and substantial downhill runs. Also “Upgrade ahead - crank up” to advise of an uphill area hidden around the next bend in the road. Last time I went through that area, the signs had been changed to the very boring “Advise low RPM” and “crank up” had been removed. Boo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-sign-in-pennsylvania-hmmmm/258877.md?page=2)