# Stupid highway signs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 6, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287 "2020-05-06T18:35:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/61 "2020-05-07T17:30:27Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > [Here’s one I saw.](https://i.imgur.com/Sipd2fL.jpg) You’ll have to zoom in to the yellow sign to read it. > I’m not sure how to react when I’m doing 70-80mph and see a sign that reads “Airplane Crossing Ahead”. And I thought you were going to link to the one on Rt12 by Pell Lake that says “Watch for low flying planes”. There’s a subdivision there where the houses have personal hangers; the street through there doubles as a landing strip. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/62 "2020-05-07T17:32:17Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > In my last neighborhood there were signs that said “Speed Hump Ahead.” > > So when my wife and I would be out walking or running, if I saw one I’d yell “SPEED HUUUUUMMMMPP!!” and hump her leg like a methed-up schnauzer. > > She mostly didn’t think it was funny. Around here I’ve noticed that the speed hump signs are usually obscured by trees. And the humps themselves are not very well marked. So you don’t really realize you’ve hit one until you’re already halfway over it. Which kind of defeats the whole purpose, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/63 "2020-05-07T18:42:24Z")
There’s a short stretch on the road along the way to my sister’s where the signs say (can’t think of the route numbers right now) North Rt XXX South Rt YYY. To further confuse matters, on that bit of road you’re actually heading pretty much due west (or east, as the case may be.) What’s going on, of course, is that Route YYY is crossing Route XXX, but in the process the two run for a couple of miles together along the same road. – I always wanted to get a picture of that, but I’m usually the only one in the car, and it’s a limited-access highway with traffic so not a good idea to stop and take pictures. One of the libraries around here used to have a parking lot sign telling you to head around the parking lot in one direction, which was expressed as three arrows chasing each other in a circle. I never got a picture of that one either, and they’ve modified the parking lot; the sign’s no longer there. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/64 "2020-05-07T19:01:58Z")
Every interpretation of the no passing zone one leads to the same place: If you don’t see a sign saying you’re allowed to pass, then you’re not allowed to pass. You can say “I don’t see a sign. That means it’s a no passing zone.” You can say “If it were a passing zone, I’d see a sign, because those are all marked”. But it’s all the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/65 "2020-05-07T19:50:40Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > In southern New Jersey there is a motorsports park called… New Jersey Motorsports Park. Racing of all kinds. More than 20 miles away on a different highway than where the track is located , is a large sign the says “New Jersey Motor Sports Park”. That’s it. No arrow, no “20 miles until NJMP”, not the name of the town. Nothing. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the track was right there at the sign. NJ also has little signs that say either New Turnpike or Garden State Parkway with an arrow pointing in the general direction of an exit w/o a “mileage to” number. No matter that the exit may be 40 miles and several turns away or maybe is an on-ramp for only one direction (not uncommon). “Its Thataway” seems to be enough. When I lived in New Jersey several years ago, a new head of the NJ Dept of Transportation admitted that road signs in the state were only useful for people who already knew where they were going. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/66 "2020-05-07T23:20:56Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > There’s a short stretch on the road along the way to my sister’s where the signs say (can’t think of the route numbers right now) > > North Rt XXX > South Rt YYY. > > To further confuse matters, on that bit of road you’re actually heading pretty much due west (or east, as the case may be.) The same thing happens in the San Francisco Bay Area where I-580 joins I-80. 580 West is 80 East, and vice versa. And they’re actually running north-south at that point. Apparently there’s actually a name for when highways do this – a “[wrong-way concurrency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_580_(California))”: > [@](#): > > The segment between the Hoffman Split and the MacArthur Maze is a wrong-way concurrency, meaning I-580 east is signed as I-80 west, and vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/67 "2020-05-07T23:30:23Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > On the road winding up Haleaka on Maui is a sign: “Turn on headlights in clouds.” Nitpick: That’s Haleakala. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/68 "2020-05-07T23:47:41Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > And I thought you were going to link to the one on Rt12 by Pell Lake that says “Watch for low flying planes”. There’s a subdivision there where the houses have personal hangers; the street through there doubles as a landing strip. What I _think_ the sign means, that is, what I think it should say is “Watch for low flying planes”. Again, not that there’s a whole lot you can do when you’re driving that fast if you saw a low flying plane. But IIRC, there’s a skydiving place near that area so it’s possible they just want you to keep your eyes open for a plane that didn’t get off the ground quite fast enough. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/69 "2020-05-08T01:47:31Z")
One I saw back in August 2017 that I haven’t seen before or since: USE HEADLIGHTS DURING ECLIPSE. Wish I would have taken a picture of it. Not really stupid, but not really necessarily since it wasn’t much darker than dusk. Minnesota has TOWARDS ZERO DEATHS ZONE highway signs, part of a statewide safety campaign. One sign was misprinted as TOWARDS ZERO DEATH ZONE, which somehow isn’t the same thing but I can’t quite tell you why. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/70 "2020-05-08T02:01:50Z")
And I once saw a sign with a picture of a spark plug, with a red interdit (the circle with a slash meaning “prohibited”) over it. It was in the parking lot of the National Radio Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, and meant that only diesel cars and bicycles were allowed past that point. Spark plugs produce too much radio interference (there’s also no cell service, broadcast radio stations, or WiFi there). ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/71 "2020-05-08T05:42:12Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Signs in the UK are standardised to a common logic, mostly graphical rather than verbal, so they shouldn’t in theory be ambiguous (and you’re tested on them to get a licence), but [this one (warning of road works ahead)](https://www.cusack.co.uk/imagecache/bdd12174-2adb-4fe5-b849-a09a00c3d5a6_900x900.jpg)I’ve heard described as “man shaking umbrella”. > > But there’s [one temporary warning sign](https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cats-eyes-removed-sign-somerset-england-287278019) that a local council felt they had to re-design Grammatically wrong. “Cats”, as a plural, is redundant, as the plurality is already covered by “eyes” . “Cat” here is an attributive adjective. And if intended to be possessive, there’s no apostrophe. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/72 "2020-05-08T05:48:07Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > What I _think_ the sign means, that is, what I think it should say is “Watch for low flying planes”. Again, not that there’s a whole lot you can do when you’re driving that fast if you saw a low flying plane. But IIRC, there’s a skydiving place near that area so it’s possible they just want you to keep your eyes open for a plane that didn’t get off the ground quite fast enough. I think the thrust there is “Be alert for low-flying planes, so you are not startled or distracted by them”. ---
**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:** [May 8, 2020, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/73 "2020-05-08T07:29:59Z")
A real airplane crossing! [Strange Airport: Gibraltar, World’s Only Airport Runway Intersecting a Road](https://www.amusingplanet.com/2011/11/gibraltar-airport-worlds-only-airport.html) Article with lots of pictures. Four-lane highway, including bike lanes crossing the runway of a major-looking airport. (I think this has been mentioned on this board before.) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/74 "2020-05-08T07:32:13Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > We have those here. They are informing you that you are allowed to turn on the flashing yellow. This is good information, since yellow normally means the light is about to turn red (so go fast!). Bear in mind that a flashing yellow arrow, a sign, a yellow light, and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL mean exactly the same thing: Don’t hit anybody. ---
**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:** [May 8, 2020, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/75 "2020-05-08T07:39:53Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > And I thought you were going to link to the one on Rt12 by Pell Lake that says “Watch for low flying planes”. There’s a subdivision there where the houses have personal hangers; the street through there doubles as a landing strip. These exist in several places. They’re called “air parks”. The one in Fresno, CA claims to be the first one. Residential neighborhood with a runway at the end of the blocks. Houses have huge garages for people to keep their airplanes. When you want to go for a joyride, just drive your airplane down the street to the runway and hit the skies! [Article about air parks](https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2015/january/pilot/f_flycommunities) with lots of pictures of people’s houses with airplanes in their garages or driveways. [Web site for another very up-scale looking airpark](https://silverwingatsandpoint.com). Click on the Photo Gallery link near the bottom of the page for lots of pics of houses with airplanes. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/76 "2020-05-08T12:56:42Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Grammatically wrong. “Cats”, as a plural, is redundant, as the plurality is already covered by “eyes” . “Cat” here is an attributive adjective. And if intended to be possessive, there’s no apostrophe. The common name of them is ‘cat’s eyes’, the officially trademarked version is catseyes. There should either be an apostrophe or no space, but the ‘s’ is correct. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/77 "2020-05-08T15:13:45Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Apparently there’s actually a name for when highways do this – a “[URLwrong-way concurrency”: Thanks! I figured that spot in PA probably wasn’t the only place where it happened, but I didn’t know there was a name for it. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/78 "2020-05-08T16:20:01Z")
The most stupid highway sign is ubiquitous in the U.S. - the stop sign. It’s utterly insane to use the same basic sign for two different types of traffic flow: all-way stop junctions where cross traffic must also stop, and junctions where cross traffic does _not_ stop. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/79 "2020-05-08T16:33:53Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > On some of the entrance ramps, there are signs listing various vehicles and items which are prohibited on the interstate. One of these is “Animals On Foot”. What about cheetahs? They can run up to 75MPH! ---
**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:** [May 9, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287/80 "2020-05-09T04:28:08Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > The most stupid highway sign is ubiquitous in the U.S. - the stop sign. It’s utterly insane to use the same basic sign for two different types of traffic flow: all-way stop junctions where cross traffic must also stop, and junctions where cross traffic does _not_ stop. In my experience, a great many four-way stops are marked as such: A little sign below the STOP sign saying “Four way” or “All way”. So you know that the cross traffic stops too. But a great many other four-way stops are NOT marked as such. Approaching such an intersection, the driver _might_ notice that cross traffic stops, or maybe not. ALL such stops should be marked. It ought to be written into the state’s vehicle code, but apparently it’s not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-highway-signs/853287.md?page=5)