# Road Signs You Hate To See **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2004, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398 "2004-08-31T11:04:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/21 "2004-09-01T00:19:47Z")
I am with **dwc1970** what are you supoosed to do with “Watch for Falling Rock”? take it literally? Just worry? Same to a certain extent with “Deer Xing” I mena OK, thanks for the heads up … but it just leaves me uneasy waiting for one of the little b@st@rds to dart out in front of me. In fact I have had that happen a few times never, ever anywhere near a Deer Xing sign. It ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/22 "2004-09-01T00:27:12Z")
> [@jimmmy](#): > > I am with **dwc1970** what are you supoosed to do with “Watch for Falling Rock”? take it literally? Just worry? I suspect it means that if you suddenly drive into a huge rock, you can’t sue the state (or whoever). It’s the same in the UK, with warnings of uneven surfaces, ‘surfaces liable to skidding’, or even ‘deer - for 50 miles’. What do you do if you spot a deer on a crowded motorway? ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/23 "2004-09-01T00:30:27Z")
Whenever I see one of the electronic freeway signs scattered around Houston, I get a sinking feeling: -Travel time to \: 9 minutes. (This invariably means it will take at least 45 minutes to travel 5 miles, and quite possibly much more than that.) -Entrance/exit/ridiculously busy interchange: 1 lane only/closed from 6/1/04 until parousia -Car fire/major accident/hazardous materials/3-foot pothole/flooding/missing road/Cthulhu ahead: all lanes closed. -Detour: Gulf of Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![grand\_poobah\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e36b37/32.png) [@grand\_poobah\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grand_poobah_bear)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/24 "2004-09-01T00:49:05Z")
seen here in NY caution new traffic patterns next x miles. what the hell is that, look out for the first guy doing something stupid and follow suite? drive in reverse? drive with door open? whats up with that? ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/25 "2004-09-01T02:11:05Z")
'Cause I left my trench coat at home… ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/26 "2004-09-01T02:30:48Z")
In Alhambra, on Valley Boulevard just east of the terminus of the 710 freeway, there are signs reading > [@](#): > > **Traffic Calming In Effect** Except what they’re doing is by no means _calming_, it’s _enraging_. They’ve timed the lights so that the green allows only two or three cars per cycle eastbound on Valley, metering the flow of traffic into the rest of their city. So all of the traffic coming off of the 710 backs up and barely moves. And yet, I approve of them doing it. You see, Interstate 710 in Los Angeles was supposed to meet up with the intersection of SR 134 and I-210 in Pasadena. But the city of South Pasadena decided that they didn’t want a freeway running thru their pretentious little city, and filed lawsuit after lawsuit blocking the construction. It’s been tied up in court for years, and even though they’ve lost a Federal Appeals Court judgement, they’ve still figured out how to keep courts issuing injunctions against construction starting. The next city south, Alhambra, isn’t happy. The 710 ends in their city, so they’re flooded with surface street traffic during rush hours. So they’ve taken to creative traffic control measures, like blocking off every street leading into Alhambra from South Pas, except for a few key arteries which are funneled down to one lane. Their attitude is, “No 710? Then have some _traffic_, beotches…” It’s actually quite brilliant. [Here](http://www.kurumi.com/roads/3di/i210.html#210ca) is a fairly objective summary of the project history. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/27 "2004-09-01T02:59:02Z")
“Watch for logging trucks.” Behind you, ahead of you, coming at you. None of these are good. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/28 "2004-09-01T05:10:18Z")
I’d hate to be employed by the Colorado DOT. The individual that has to create the signs indicating a curve ahead must be on crack. I live in Indiana. It’s flat in Indiana. The most ambitous curve we have is an “S” curve. After vacationing in Colorado several years ago, I discovered the real meaning of “curves ahead”. Their signs looked like squiggles from a Second Grader…and they _meant_ it! Scary, scary place, that Colorado! ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/29 "2004-09-01T06:49:52Z")
I saw a sign on 95 between 47 and Cambridge, MN that said, “Concentrate on Your Driving” in blazing white letters on the most reflective blue backround I’ve ever seen. Now, if I’m looking at this massive, blinding distraction on the right side of the road, how am I concentrating on my driving? I almost had to turn around to look at it again, it was so unbelieveable. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/30 "2004-09-01T11:27:00Z")
**bughunter** , I’ve seen similar signs in a residental area in Maryland. “Traffic Calming Ahead”. It’s basically just a fancy euphemism for speed bumps. ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/31 "2004-09-01T12:01:05Z")
There is a construction sign on I-70 in Indiana that is meant to look handwritten, and it says “SLOW DOWN: MY DADDY WORKS HERE”. They need one at the end of the construction zone that says “End Construction: Continue Driving Recklessly” :wally There is also a construction sign on U.S. 23 in Michigan that says “Kill or injure a construction worker: $7500 fine and 10 years in jail.” I’m not sure about the amount of the fine or the jail time, but it always gets me thinking: does that relieve the workers of the responsility not to be in traffic? I also hate seeing yield signs on railroad tracks (So you’re saying the train isn’t supposed to yield to me?) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/32 "2004-09-01T13:29:13Z")
Driving south from the Trans-Canada Highway in Alberta, in an old Buick with known oil-consuption problems (“just give it a litre every other day and it’ll be fine”), we were dismayed to see the following sign along the narrow deserted two-lane road: **NO SERVICES OR RESIDENCES NEXT 137 km** :eek: Translation: IF YOU BREAK DOWN HERE, YOU’RE SCREWED. DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT USING THAT CELLPHONE. AND IF IT’S WINTER, YOU MIGHT AS WELL JUST KISS YOUR ASS GOODBYE. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/33 "2004-09-01T14:22:54Z")
> [@jimmmy](#): > > I am with **dwc1970** what are you supoosed to do with “Watch for Falling Rock”? take it literally? Just worry? > > Same to a certain extent with “Deer Xing” I mena OK, thanks for the heads up … but it just leaves me uneasy waiting for one of the little b@st@rds to dart out in front of me. In fact I have had that happen a few times never, ever anywhere near a Deer Xing sign. It What happened to the end of that sentence - did a deer run off with it?? On a similar note, there’s one near me marked ‘low flying owls’…I wonder if that’s there for all the little mice and shrews so they take cover? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/34 "2004-09-01T14:30:31Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Most places, the third sign marks “end of divided highway” – but only a few people in Malone know what a divided highway is! > > (Wonderful town – it’s at least 100 miles from **anywhere**! We did a water project for them – the Industrial Park (which consisted entirely of a “sheltered workshop” run by the county ARC when we were working on the project, though they were hoping to get a Coke bottling franchise to locate there). OK, I’ll buy that it means end of divided highway, but it wasn’t on a divided highway! it was a regular road with two lanes on one side, and the right lane merged into the left, so they SHOULD have used the first sign. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/35 "2004-09-01T14:55:20Z")
> [@grand poobah bear](#): > > seen here in NY > > caution new traffic patterns next x miles. > what the hell is that, look out for the first guy doing something stupid and follow suite? drive in reverse? drive with door open? whats up with that? It generally means that the geometry of the highway has changed somehow, usually due to construction. Sometimes it’s temporary. What they’re saying is “Hey, if you’re used to driving on this road be aware that things have changed.” ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/36 "2004-09-01T15:08:33Z")
Mine is a combination: “Dead End” and “One Way”, refering to the same stretch of road… ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/37 "2004-09-01T15:22:02Z")
> [@dwc1970](#): > > “Watch for falling rock”. In other words, if a boulder is tumbling down the hill and I just happen to be in its path I’m pretty much fucked. ☹ In Wisconsin, IIRC, the signs say, “Watch for fall **en** rock.” Much more realistic. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/38 "2004-09-01T15:54:20Z")
“Welcome to Wales” always gets me down. I kid ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/39 "2004-09-01T17:11:38Z")
> [@Martiju](#): > > What happened to the end of that sentence - did a deer run off with it?? > > On a similar note, there’s one near me marked ‘low flying owls’…I wonder if that’s there for all the little mice and shrews so they take cover? Unfortunately, I found out first-hand what that one means. We were driving at night on a freeway that is built up on an embankment between lower-lying fields. An owl, which had presumably been gliding along low over the fields, rose up to go over the embankment—an ran smack into our car. There weren’t any signs, I afraid. The sign that creeps me out is one that you see at the Border Patrol checkpoint north of San Diego. It looks like a School Crossing sign, except that instead of two sedately walking children, it shows the realistic silhouettes of a mother, father, and child holding hands and running for their lives (presumably across the eight lanes of freeway located there.) Scary to think something similar must have happed often enough that they needed signs. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398/40 "2004-09-01T17:26:06Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > The sign that creeps me out is one that you see at the Border Patrol checkpoint north of San Diego. It looks like a School Crossing sign, except that instead of two sedately walking children, it shows the realistic silhouettes of a mother, father, and child holding hands and running for their lives (presumably across the eight lanes of freeway located there.) Scary to think something similar must have happed often enough that they needed signs. _North_ of San Diego? Is this sign warning pedestrians not to run across the freeway? Or is it a warning to motorists that people may be running across the freeway? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-signs-you-hate-to-see/262398.md?page=3)