# Is Your House Number Clearly Visible at Night? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-house-number-clearly-visible-at-night/737599 "2015-11-15T00:08:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-house-number-clearly-visible-at-night/737599/41 "2015-11-18T12:33:06Z")
Our mail delivery is at the door, not at the street, so no mailbox out by the road, but for years and years we have had a post/sign by the end of the drive, as do many around here. Over the decades we have had various methods…solar powered, reflective…but last year the sign broke off in high winds (it was suspended from short chains) and I haven’t replaced it yet. And I’m having trouble finding my own house at night! There are non-reflective numbers visible at the front door…every house in town has those, and in the developments where they have nice concrete curbs have numbers painted there…I believe that in the past the high school booster clubs did it as a fundraiser. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-house-number-clearly-visible-at-night/737599/42 "2015-11-18T21:21:40Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I’m Mr. Archaic, but I would think these days if you called for emergency services, they would know within about 4 inches of where you were. > > That being said, I have to admit until a year or so ago, FedEx couldn’t find our house. :rolleyes: GPS is great but the GIS has to have the locations right. Any GPS system would send someone to a house 2 lots away from me, rather than into my driveway. I have large numbers on the mailbox, which are reflective. My house has numbers as well, but it’s nearly 100 yards from the street, so they only verify the information if the porch lights are on and you’ve come all the way down the driveway. I’m of the opinion that if you’re not making it clear where your house is, and emergency services can’t find you, it’s 100% your fault, not that of the responding agency. I fully endorse requiring numbering, or those supplied by the town and are a uniform size/shape/reflectivity. It should be a crime to remove one, and it should be your responsibility to maintain/replace them once provided by the town. New construction after the initial issue by the town should be required to install them prior to an occupancy permit being issued. It’s one of the few things that I do endorse with regard to government regulation. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-house-number-clearly-visible-at-night/737599/43 "2015-11-18T21:35:50Z")
GPS thinks my house is in the middle of the intersection half a block to the southeast, if it finds it at all. I have house numbers in a contrasting color and the streetlight across the street illuminates them nicely. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-house-number-clearly-visible-at-night/737599/44 "2015-11-19T00:27:49Z")
The GPS signal used by civilians is not the same as the one used by the military (yes, GPS is a military system - which is why the USSR/Russia has its own system and the EU is building its own). Please don’t make the news by trusting your car GPS when it is says ‘Turn Left’ when you’re in the middle of nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-house-number-clearly-visible-at-night/737599/45 "2015-11-19T01:05:12Z")
I took a quick peek around the neighborhood at the houses built during the same phase as mine. Most of them have either lost the original numbers on their mailboxes, or the numbers have faded. House numbers tend to be located on doors; most of these have faded as well. A few homeowners have large, decorative house number plaques hanging somewhere in their yards (usually near some decorative shrubs). I didn’t see any house numbers painted on curbs. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-house-number-clearly-visible-at-night/737599/46 "2015-11-19T01:52:01Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Please don’t make the news by trusting your car GPS when it is says ‘Turn Left’ when you’re in the middle of nowhere. It can make for some exciting unscheduled travel adventures, though! > [@Bokonon](#): > > Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-house-number-clearly-visible-at-night/737599.md?page=2)