The Worst of Road Signs

[roadfro]

I may have found a candidate to replace "craIG county". It's on I-20 westbound in Atlanta, for FUltoN COunTY.

Link to GSV

Holy cow, that is bad. Maybe it was a tribute?

Looks like the sign is meant to be mixed case for "Fulton" and all upper case for "County", but the fabricator mixed up the n's and u's. If the letters had been placed properly, the sign wouldn't have looked that bad.

[wolfiefrick]

I may have found a candidate to replace "craIG county". It's on I-20 westbound in Atlanta, for FUltoN COunTY.

Link to GSV

Holy cow, that is bad. Maybe it was a tribute?

Looks like the sign is meant to be mixed case for "Fulton" and all upper case for "County", but the fabricator mixed up the n's and u's. If the letters had been placed properly, the sign wouldn't have looked that bad.

I'll be in Atlanta for a day next month so I'll try and scout this one out while I'm there!

[ErmineNotyours]

Not a road sign, but it fits the theme.  When I first saw this sign, I noticed the "d" in "Second," which is an upside down capital "P".  Around the corner I saw they switched the "P" and "d" with part of the sign that now said "BOOK DROp".  The book drop sign has since been removed, but this sign is still up.

Kent Library Sign by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

[tckma]

Another DOT or similar government office taking a cue from craIG county:

https://goo.gl/maps/k1vJ7S5KWTn

[PHLBOS]

Another DOT or similar government office taking a cue from craIG county:

https://goo.gl/maps/k1vJ7S5KWTn

That looks to be township install (Lower Providence Twp., Montgomery County, PA).

[tckma]

Another DOT or similar government office taking a cue from craIG county:

https://goo.gl/maps/k1vJ7S5KWTn

That looks to be township install (Lower Providence Twp., Montgomery County, PA).

Well whoever did it, it sucks!

[cjk374]

Another DOT or similar government office taking a cue from craIG county:

https://goo.gl/maps/k1vJ7S5KWTn

That looks to be township install (Lower Providence Twp., Montgomery County, PA).

Well whoever did it, it sucks!

.

Someone break out the flamethrowers & napalm! 

[freebrickproductions]

This as posted on Facebook recently, felt that it fit here rather well (screenshot to give credit to the original author of the photo):

[WillWeaverRVA]

This as posted on Facebook recently, felt that it fit here rather well (screenshot to give credit to the original author of the photo):

Clearly the Craig County virus has become a pandemic.

[MNHighwayMan]

Heh, I used to drive past that sign all the time. Never occurred to me to snag a picture of it 'til now.

[PHLBOS]

Another DOT or similar government office taking a cue from craIG county:

https://goo.gl/maps/k1vJ7S5KWTn

That looks to be township install (Lower Providence Twp., Montgomery County, PA).

Well whoever did it, it sucks!

.

Someone break out the flamethrowers & napalm! 

Time to dust off this old meme: 

[abefroman329]

Well, it's an odd time signature, but it doesn't seem to be used (or used much) in YYZ.

" Money"  by Pink Floyd is in 7/8 time.

[Rothman]

Well, it's an odd time signature, but it doesn't seem to be used (or used much) in YYZ.

" Money"  by Pink Floyd is in 7/8 time.

7/4.

[Mergingtraffic]

Worst of or best of??
Suburban NYC



and

[amroad17]

Worst of or best of??
Suburban NYC



and

During the day--Best Of.  At night--Worst Of.

[MNHighwayMan]

The fact that it's illegible at night automatically makes it "worst of." Road signs should be legible almost all of the time, in almost all conditions.

[Scott5114]

The fact that it's illegible at night automatically makes it "worst of." Road signs should be legible almost all of the time, in almost all conditions.

Most pre-Interstate signage would be about that legible at night, so that's not true. I've found that photos often don't do signs like this justice; from the angle and the relatively small, brief amount of light a camera flash puts out, it might look illegible, but it may look very different under headlights.

[MNHighwayMan]

The fact that it's illegible at night automatically makes it "worst of." Road signs should be legible almost all of the time, in almost all conditions.

Most pre-Interstate signage would be about that legible at night, so that's not true. I've found that photos often don't do signs like this justice; from the angle and the relatively small, brief amount of light a camera flash puts out, it might look illegible, but it may look very different under headlights.

If it can't be read, then it's not serving its purpose and should be replaced. We have modern technology (prismatic sheeting) that makes signs very visible at night. Personally–and I know this is an unpopular opinion, for some reason, on this forum–I think button copy belongs in a museum or someone's garage, not still in use on a highway in 2018. Function is more important than form.

[Scott5114]

I'm not sure my points were communicated effectively–what I am saying is that 1) being illegible at night doesn't make it "worst of", because a) the point of the thread is signs that were garbage from day 1 because they were badly designed or badly fabricated in the first place b) obsolete signage is considered to be interesting and the point of the "best of" thread, 2) the sign may very well be perfectly legible in person and simply appear illegible through the lens of the camera or under the light of a camera flash.

[jakeroot]

It is, in the best use of the word, a bit misleading for all old signs to automatically qualify as best-of material. It's understood by most users that the "best of" thread is just a code-word for "anything old", but that doesn't make it any less misleading. I've seen some terribly old signs in New Jersey that were posted in the best-of thread, and I ripped them apart for being in absolutely shit state. But I got barraged by users who told me it was old, and therefore brilliant.

[Max Rockatansky]

CamP Nelson:

IMG_9770 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[MNHighwayMan]

It is, in the best use of the word, a bit misleading for all old signs to automatically qualify as best-of material. It's understood by most users that the "best of" thread is just a code-word for "anything old", but that doesn't make it any less misleading. I've seen some terribly old signs in New Jersey that were posted in the best-of thread, and I ripped them apart for being in absolutely shit state. But I got barraged by users who told me it was old, and therefore brilliant.

This is precisely why I dislike that thread. "Old" automatically equals "best."

[formulanone]

The fact that it's illegible at night automatically makes it "worst of." Road signs should be legible almost all of the time, in almost all conditions.

Most pre-Interstate signage would be about that legible at night, so that's not true. I've found that photos often don't do signs like this justice; from the angle and the relatively small, brief amount of light a camera flash puts out, it might look illegible, but it may look very different under headlights.

What's forgotten here is that this sign is probably more legible (at night) from a greater distance than from what appears to be only 50-100 feet away; considering it's mounted overhead, it's at the point where headlights won't shine because they're focused down the road at a further distance.

A typical camera flash works best at distances between 6-30 feet, and it cannot replicate the illumination of headlights. A camera flash only lasts approximately 1/30-1/60 of a second, where headlights are continually lit. Using this nighttime photographic standard to discern the readability of a road sign is misleading.

If the photo could be taken from 250-500 feet away, it might be a better indication. Even a studio flash set-up will not produce results as a driver might see it in those situations...I'm not sure there's much reason to re-create illumination short of stadium lighting (also mounted 100-200 feet up).

[mrsman]

Not a road sign, but it fits the theme.  When I first saw this sign, I noticed the "d" in "Second," which is an upside down capital "P".  Around the corner I saw they switched the "P" and "d" with part of the sign that now said "BOOK DROp".  The book drop sign has since been removed, but this sign is still up.

Kent Library Sign by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

You provide a very good explanation for the mistake.  I imagine that they came to install the signage and they had all the letters separately that they had to drill and screw onto the wall.  With 62 letters to install, it would be easy to make a mistake.  Give me the "d" and they gave him the "P" instead.

But why should that happen on road signs?  Fulton County and Craig County, do they mix up the letters like that?  Are they designed from stencils or the like that are easy to mix up between similar looking letters?

[SectorZ]

Not a road sign, but it fits the theme.  When I first saw this sign, I noticed the "d" in "Second," which is an upside down capital "P".  Around the corner I saw they switched the "P" and "d" with part of the sign that now said "BOOK DROp".  The book drop sign has since been removed, but this sign is still up.

Kent Library Sign by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

You provide a very good explanation for the mistake.  I imagine that they came to install the signage and they had all the letters separately that they had to drill and screw onto the wall.  With 62 letters to install, it would be easy to make a mistake.  Give me the "d" and they gave him the "P" instead.

But why should that happen on road signs?  Fulton County and Craig County, do they mix up the letters like that?  Are they designed from stencils or the like that are easy to mix up between similar looking letters?

45 seconds in, somewhat sums up the thinking.