Youthful Misconceptions

[triplemultiplex]

I recall mistaking mileage to an exit on a BGS as mileage to the control city the sign mentioned.  Example: traveling south on US 51 in Wausau en route to Green Bay, I see a sign that says:
WI 29 west
Green Bay
1 Mile
And I immediately thought, "Oh wow, we're only 1 mile from Green Bay!"


Here's another good one you all will like.  After observing several button-copy signs, I determined that they were made by shooting the sign with a machine gun.  I pictured some guy standing in front of the sign and spelling letters with a machine gun.  Then they played connect-the-dots with white paint.


For some time, I assumed that every town that gets bypassed automatically gets a business route.

[J N Winkler]

I recall mistaking mileage to an exit on a BGS as mileage to the control city the sign mentioned.  Example: traveling south on US 51 in Wausau en route to Green Bay, I see a sign that says:

WI 29 west
Green Bay
1 Mile

And I immediately thought, "Oh wow, we're only 1 mile from Green Bay!"

To be honest, this is more ambiguity in how distance signs are composed than a misconception--it is the reason some states use the word "EXIT" after the destination to make it clear that the distance given is to the exit and not to the destination itself.

Here's another good one you all will like.  After observing several button-copy signs, I determined that they were made by shooting the sign with a machine gun.  I pictured some guy standing in front of the sign and spelling letters with a machine gun.  Then they played connect-the-dots with white paint.

I grew up in Kansas, which has always used retroreflective sheeting.  In order to see button copy I had to go to Missouri, Oklahoma, or Nebraska.  I could not understand why these states would choose a retroreflectorization technology which made the signs look like cheap, low-resolution dot-matrix printing at night instead of "laser printing" like in Kansas.  (I was a Kansas chauvinist in general until I reached my mid-twenties and realized that there are some things Kansas does very poorly, like access to public records.)

[The High Plains Traveler]

I thought that California was far different from other states in how it marked and signed its roads. California had white lines for its center dividers; other states had a continuous broken white line that had yellow solid lines on one side or the other (or none at all) depending on whether passing was allowed or not. Other states had black on white guide and regulatory signs. California had white on black guide or regulatory signs. California's route markers were cutouts while other states had rectangular signs.

Oh wait.  Those weren't misconceptions. (Still aren't in many ways.) One reason why it's still fun to drive to California. Gotta love those yellow school crossing lines.

[thenetwork]

When I was little, there were several cities in Ohio where there used to be signs that said: "THROUGH TRUCKS MUST FOLLOW STATE ROUTES".

At the time I thought that meant that trucks couldn't travel on US Routes in Ohio -- only the State and Interstate routes.

[elsmere241]

I once thought that all interstates numbered exits by mile within the state.

I once thought US highways could only end at an international border or coastline.

When I first saw the signs on Harding Place in Belle Meade, TN that "Belle Meade Blvd. does not stop" I thought that meant Belle Meade Blvd. went all the way around the world.

When my father said that the I-5 Express Lanes in Seattle would "take us out of town" I thought that meant if we took them we'd wind up on a road in some suburb, away from I-5.  Later on that trip, when a direct onramp to those lanes had a sign that said "Flammable Trucks Prohibited" I thought that meant pedestrians, bicycles, etc. were OK since there wasn't a sign prohibiting them.

[1995hoo]

....  Later on that trip, when a direct onramp to those lanes had a sign that said "Flammable Trucks Prohibited" I thought that meant pedestrians, bicycles, etc. were OK since there wasn't a sign prohibiting them.

I'm beginning to think that a lot of people think this sort of thing in general–"I can do whatever I want unless there's a sign saying I can't"–because I frequently see things like people making left or right turns from the second lane, or even the third lane, if there's no straight-only marking. Here's a satellite view of an example in the District of Columbia–notice in the middle of the picture where there's a right-only lane and then next to it is a right-or-straight lane. In that situation, it seems apparent to me that you cannot legally turn right out of the far left lane because you'd be crossing the path of vehicles that are allowed to go straight (due to the middle lane being right-or-straight). There's no left turn because the turn is onto a one-way street. More and more frequently I see people turn right out of that far left lane, which bears no marking at all as to which way it goes. No doubt part of that is typical DC self-importance–"Why should I wait on line with everyone else?" No doubt part of it is also the attitude of "it doesn't say I can't turn right."

I cite that as just one example and I sometimes find myself wondering if it's a symptom of the American system of putting up a sign for every little thing. We were watching an episode of Parking Wars on A&E one night and a guy got a ticket for parking too close to an intersection. He started arguing because there was no sign saying he couldn't park there. But in just about every state (and DC) there's a default law saying you can't park within a certain distance of an intersection, regardless of whether there's a sign. (We had the same thing happen in my neighborhood where one guy kept parking his car partway around the corner. The county finally put up a "No Parking Here to Corner" sign. I hate having to have ugly signs in a suburban residential area, but I guess there was no choice.)

I suppose this is getting off the "Youthful Misconceptions" topic, so I'll leave it there.

[vtk]

When I was little, there were several cities in Ohio where there used to be signs that said: "THROUGH TRUCKS MUST FOLLOW STATE ROUTES".

There still are quite a few.  Nelsonville comes to mind...

[Michael]

I thought Interstates had to actually cross state borders and they were the only type of roadway that could be freeways.

I think most of us have done this.

I didn't because I commonly traveled (and still do) I-690 and the NY 5 and 695 freeways.

Some of my misconceptions:

• When I first went through Pennsylvania (about 13 or so), I remember thinking it was weird that the exits were numbered by the highway mileage.  I still think it's weird.
• I thought that exits should be numbered east to west because of the NY Thruway, but then I found out that it's the Thruway that's backwards.

Not misconceptions, but I wasn't sure of these until I was older:

• I thought that I could identify a major road by the presence of a center line.  That is actually usually true.
• Half Acre Road west of Auburn is a state road.  I thought so because of the higher standard it was built to.  I later found out about reference routes, and found that it's NY 931E.

[msubulldog]

For some time, I assumed that every town that gets bypassed automatically gets a business route.

And I used to think that when a US business route entered a city, the main portion of the route automatically became a "bypass".

[Scott5114]

I used to think that button copy elements were merely glued on. Maybe the case in other states, but here in Oklahoma, they actually used flathead screws.

[J N Winkler]

I used to think that button copy elements were merely glued on. Maybe the case in other states, but here in Oklahoma, they actually used flathead screws.

Rivets have been the norm for framed button copy in all of the states where I have gotten out of the car for a closer look at the sign panel.  California did use epoxy to secure the reflective buttons to the legend on older porcelain enamel signs where the sign message had originally been baked on at the factory.

[agentsteel53]

California did use epoxy to secure the reflective buttons to the legend on older porcelain enamel signs where the sign message had originally been baked on at the factory.

that is a fairly unique situation in the US, as Nevada, the other significant purchaser of large porcelain guide signs from CAMEO, never retrofitted them with reflective buttons. 

I don't consider that style of sign to be "button copy", even though from a distance it is indistinguishable.  It is a matter of CA purchasing the large green signs from 1959-1973, and then between 1974 and the present day deciding to retrofit them with buttons, as opposed to lighting them up from underneath. 

the closeness of the April, 1973 date for the termination of the CAMEO contract, and the energy crisis of 1973-1974 are merely a coincidence.  there are examples of non-porcelain signs, dating back to as early as 1961, which had individual non-reflective letters bolted on that were later retrofitted with buttons as well. 

(there probably were black signs from 1947-1959 or so which also were retrofitted with buttons, but as far as I know, none survive to the present day.)

[AZDude]

I used to think rural freeways in every state had a speed limit of 75. 
I used to think all two lane roads didn't have a speed limit higher than 65.
I used to believe that I-40 was only 4 lanes for its entire length.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

I used to think the buttons in button copy signs were actually lights that faded on as you approached the sign then turned off as you passed under it.

I used to think overtaking was always legal on roads or streets that lacked a painted centerline.

I used to think you could go as fast as you wanted on roads that didn't have speed limits posted.

I used to think concrete was always used for urban freeways, with no exceptions.  Along this line, I also used to think that any time there was no grassy median and only a concrete barrier or double-guardrail, you were in an urban area.  I suppose that would've seemed more plausible 15-23 years ago than it does now.

I used to think all freeways were Interstates and called them as such, even when they were not Interstates.

I used to think Virginia had 323 exits on I-81, a product of growing up in the Land of Sequential Exit Numbers AKA the extreme northeast.

[agentsteel53]

I used to think overtaking was always legal on roads or streets that lacked a painted centerline.

it isn't always legal?  when I think of a road with no painted centerline, I imagine a small residential street, and while overtaking at moderate speeds is fairly asshole-like, I know of situations in which traffic regularly passes a slow-moving vehicle like a garbage truck. 

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

it isn't always legal?  when I think of a road with no painted centerline, I imagine a small residential street, and while overtaking at moderate speeds is fairly asshole-like, I know of situations in which traffic regularly passes a slow-moving vehicle like a garbage truck.

I don't think the cops would be happy if you passed around a curve or while going uphill on an unpainted backroad in NH.  I lived off one of those for 12 of the 15 years I lived there.

[agentsteel53]

I don't think the cops would be happy if you passed around a curve or while going uphill on an unpainted backroad in NH.  I lived off one of those for 12 of the 15 years I lived there.

well, that's just common sense - never outdrive your sight lines!

[OracleUsr]

I thought "END CONSTRUCTION" meant a big hole in the road was forthcoming (i.e., end of the road), even on an interstate.

[Dr Frankenstein]

I used to think that state routes could not be freeways – only Interstates and autoroutes could be.

I also used to think that exit numbers were always sequential, even though the ones here have been distance-based for well over 30 years.

[Takumi]

I thought "END CONSTRUCTION" meant a big hole in the road was forthcoming (i.e., end of the road), even on an interstate.

I initially thought that "ROAD UNDER CONSTRUCTION" meant that the construction was underneath the road.

[Alex]

I thought that a Business route abbreviated "BUS" on a map meant it was a bus route.

[relaxok]

One other thing I totally forgot to mention.

I was very confused as a child by No Passing Zone signs - as in, I wondered why you werent allowed to pass cars going the other way.  I was always afraid to mention it to my mom, since she always did it.

It sounds absolutely stupid now but at age 5 it really bothered me.  In fact I still don't like the wording of those signs.

[vdeane]

I thought "END CONSTRUCTION" meant a big hole in the road was forthcoming (i.e., end of the road), even on an interstate.

I initially thought that "ROAD UNDER CONSTRUCTION" meant that the construction was underneath the road.

But clearly the sign is saying the road is under the construction!  It's in the sky!

[Bickendan]

Used to think all freeways in the US were 8-lanes wide... was rudely shocked when on the first road trip I could recall (5 years old) we left the Golden State Freeway onto the Westside Freeway.

Every town worth its salt had a US highway; Medford, OR wasn't holding its own because of that (and it's four-lane I-5!). Even Grants Pass at least had US 199!

The Oregon Route markers were hideous compared to California's! (To be fair, the non-cutout moderns are hideous compared to the 1940's design and to the modern cutouts...) ...then I saw Washington's, and Oregon's grew on me very fast. (Washington's still can be unsettling, lol)

[Duke87]

One other thing I totally forgot to mention.

I was very confused as a child by No Passing Zone signs - as in, I wondered why you werent allowed to pass cars going the other way.  I was always afraid to mention it to my mom, since she always did it.

It sounds absolutely stupid now but at age 5 it really bothered me.  In fact I still don't like the wording of those signs.

I thought "Do Not Pass" meant you weren't supposed to pass the sign in question.

Of course, as a kid the idea that you could ever pass another car on a two lane road was completely unheard of to me since I grew up in a densely enough populated area and left said area infrequently enough that I rarely ever saw any roads where passing in the oncoming lane was legal. I suppose that would be another misconception: you need at least two lanes going in the same direction for one car to pass another.