Most absurd VMS messages

[Mr. Matté]

From IADOT:

Sorry, the proper response is "And also with you." (or it is if you're like me and quit the Catholic Church before 2011)

[Right on Red]

From Ayer, MA:



San Diego:

[kphoger]

From IADOT:

Sorry, the proper response is "And also with you." (or it is if you're like me and quit the Catholic Church before 2011)

I immediately understood your comment.  Not having read your parenthesis till revisiting the thread, it didn't occur to me people wouldn't understand it.  I grew up Lutheran, not Catholic, but they use a lot of the same liturgy.

[jbnv]

From IADOT:

It should actually say "Text you will not."

[Brandon]

A short distance before a concealed fixed speed camera:

PLEASE OBEY THE SPEED LIMIT

We have portable ones around Chicagoland that say:

OBEY
SPEED
LIMIT
(flip to second part of message)
IN
WORK
ZONES

Of course, no one pays them any heed.

[cl94]

From IADOT:

Sorry, the proper response is "And also with you." (or it is if you're like me and quit the Catholic Church before 2011)

I immediately understood your comment.  Not having read your parenthesis till revisiting the thread, it didn't occur to me people wouldn't understand it.  I grew up Lutheran, not Catholic, but they use a lot of the same liturgy.

Ditto. Reminds me of that joke about Catholics/Lutherans being kicked out of a movie theater when seeing the newest Star Wars film for responding to "may the force be with you" every time it is said.

[mariethefoxy]

where was this taken? I cant quite make out the interstate signs in the distance.

Also my favorite is the boston one "USE YAH BLINKAH"

[US71]

TURN SIGNALS
THE ORIGINAL
INSTANT MESSAGE

(seen on several MoDOT signs)

[PurdueBill]

where was this taken? I cant quite make out the interstate signs in the distance.

Also my favorite is the boston one "USE YAH BLINKAH"

If I squint, I think I can make out Des Moines on the left-hand BGS.  I think.  Judging from the shields, either I-35 or I-80 (or I-235) near there?

[PurdueBill]

where was this taken? I cant quite make out the interstate signs in the distance.

Also my favorite is the boston one "USE YAH BLINKAH"

If I squint, I think I can make out Des Moines on the left-hand BGS.  I think.  Judging from the shields, either I-35 or I-80 (or I-235) near there?

Found it.....I-80 WB, about to underpass NE 38th St.

The signs in the distance were indeed 235/80/35 related.

[roadman]

From IADOT:

Sorry, the proper response is "And also with you." (or it is if you're like me and quit the Catholic Church before 2011)

I immediately understood your comment.  Not having read your parenthesis till revisiting the thread, it didn't occur to me people wouldn't understand it.  I grew up Lutheran, not Catholic, but they use a lot of the same liturgy.

At Christmas and Easter, you can immediately identify those members of the congregation who only attend Mass only once or twice a year because they still respond "and also with you".

[DevalDragon]

Illinois DOT telling you what (not) to do.



On the approach to a workzone in Effingham IL on I-57 southbound.

[Max Rockatansky]

Illinois DOT telling you what (not) to do.



On the approach to a workzone in Effingham IL on I-57 southbound.

If you're snoozing how would one read the VMS instead of crashing right into it or someone else?   

[jwolfer]

From IADOT:

Sorry, the proper response is "And also with you." (or it is if you're like me and quit the Catholic Church before 2011)

I immediately understood your comment.  Not having read your parenthesis till revisiting the thread, it didn't occur to me people wouldn't understand it.  I grew up Lutheran, not Catholic, but they use a lot of the same liturgy.

Ditto. Reminds me of that joke about Catholics/Lutherans being kicked out of a movie theater when seeing the newest Star Wars film for responding to "may the force be with you" every time it is said.

I grew up in the Episcopal Church, in my church we used the 1928 Prayer Book.. so we went all Elizabethan.. "and with thy spirit".. 1549 translation from the Latin Mass.. so the new response is closer to the original Latin.

[Right on Red]

More ADOT:

[7/8]

More ADOT:

Awesome! I'm starting to like ADOT

I can't wait to see the movie this weekend

[jwolfer]

More ADOT:

Make it so number one

[MikeTheActuary]

I wish I had taken a picture, but three weeks ago, I saw a TDOT message that began "YOU'RE IN TENNESSEE NOW / VOLUNTEER..." (and I forget the rest).

Thing is...I saw this heading westbound off the Hernando-DeSoto Bridge, by an Arkansas weigh station, complete with an Arkansas state trooper running a speed trap.

Apparently the folks in Nashville forgot that the state's VMS network includes a few signs in West Memphis.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I think the most absurd VMS I've ever seen was one saying (originally in Spanish) 'Speed can kill'. Nothing wrong... except it showed up in a jam.

From Ayer, MA:

I actually thought it was spotted the previous day somewhere in Massachusetts, as 'Ayer' is Spanish for 'yesterday'.

[JMoses24]

Along the lines of the bus signs, the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky does this as well. Take a look at this, which is absurd for TWO reasons even:

1) It's a Merry Christmas sign
2) This photo was taken in JUNE.

Photo by me, 6/10/15.

[Desert Man]

where was this taken? I cant quite make out the interstate signs in the distance.

Also my favorite is the boston one "USE YAH BLINKAH"

Now that's what's called the sign of the times (2016)...adults, don't be children, keep an eye on the roads...and if you're a pedestrian, look around you instead looking for pikachu on the damn screen. 

[cl94]

I admit that I have Pokémon Go going while in heavy, slow-moving traffic, but I don't look at it. If you're moving slower than 15 km/h, it thinks you're walking and it will count toward hatching eggs. Makes traffic a hell of a lot more enjoyable, especially if the jam is a few miles long and you can get a few eggs to hatch with zero effort.

[roadman]

Along the lines of the bus signs, the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky does this as well. Take a look at this, which is absurd for TWO reasons even:

1) It's a Merry Christmas sign
2) This photo was taken in JUNE.

Photo by me, 6/10/15.

Speaking of absurd transit VMS messages, the MBTA's latest double-decker commuter rail coaches have VMS displays on the outside of the cars.  The intent of these displays was to indicate the destination of the train.  However, more often than not, the displays read "Now Arriving At (station)" instead.  Apart from the utter absurdity of having to tell passengers on a station platform that the train is arriving at that station, the displays seldom get the station name correct.

[Revive 755]

One from the I-90 Tollway reconstruction project in Chicagoland a few weeks ago:

STAY
ALIVE
[changes to]
DRIVE
45

Never mind that at least 70% of the traffic passing this sign is doing at least 60.  There was another sign after this one with a message along the same lines, but I can't remember what it was.


From I-41/I-94 near Racine recently:

CHANGING LANES?  SHOW US YOUR BLINKER (may not be an exact word for word match but close enough)

[roadman]

Yesterday afternoon, coming through Providence, the VMSes were displaying:

STOP SPEEDING
BEFORE IT
STOPS YOU


Although the message was shown on EVERY sign between Route 4 and the MA line, I guess that's better than seeing

PROVIDENCE-NEWPORT FERRY
12:30 SOLD OUT
5:00 STILL TICKETS

on all the signs, which was the case two weeks ago.  And note that the ferry message was being displayed about 3:00 pm, well after the 12:30 ferry had departed.