The Worst of Road Signs

[1995hoo]

I seem to recall seeing "Left Lane for Passing Only" in Texas. I quite like this variant.

Washington uses "Keep Right Except to Pass". I'm not certain of it's effectiveness, but they're all over the place.

And in some places, near state lines, Washington goes a step further with signs saying "STATE LAW Keep Right Except to Pass".
There is one on SR 20 Spur heading out of Anacortes, for the BC traffic coming off the ferry. I'd post the GMSV, but it is from 2008 and looks terrible.

I like the terminology "Keep Right Except to Pass" because it most precisely states what the law is.  "Slower traffic keep right" is not as precise.

I agree, and I also think many people don't like to think of themselves as "slow" or "slower," especially people who have the mindset "I'm going the speed limit, so I'm not slow."

I encountered two different people yesterday who persisted in going 60 mph in the left lane of a 70-mph zone on I-66....people like that make me wish I had a grille-mounted missile launcher.

[Mr. Matté]

So Mercer County decided to replace a perfectly-good NJDOT-(likely) installed West CR 546 with this:


And for the two of you who like to play the game "What CR Shield did Mercer County Paste Over to Make This Reflective Shield?" the answer is 618. (highlight to reveal)

Update on an older post of mine, the county must read this board since a new sign was put in at this spot:


/P.S. This road eastbound from Morris Hall out to US 1 still sucks
//New answer to the "What CR Shield did Mercer County Paste Over to Make This Reflective Shield?" game: 608

[kphoger]

I seem to recall seeing "Left Lane for Passing Only" in Texas. I quite like this variant.

México (where keeping right is more ingrained in people's minds) uses this terminology as well:  CARRIL IZQUIERDO SOLO PARA REBASAR (left lane only for passing).  I actually don't like this wording on three-lane roadways (much of I-35 through central Texas) because it does not imply people should use the rightmost lane, just avoid the leftmost lane.

[opspe]

Today, in "Hideously Stretched Helvetica Signs of Burnaby":

[noelbotevera]

Today, in "Hideously Stretched Helvetica Signs of Burnaby":

Who's Gilmore?

[Roadgeek Adam]

For the "Woodstock Con't" sign, here's the list of words I was able to pick off of a dictionary that start with "con" and end with "t".

Code Select Expand

concealment
conceit
concent
concept
conceptualist
concernment
concert
concisest
conclavist
concoct
concomitant
concordant
concordat
concurrent
condiment
conduct
conduit
confect
confederalist
conferment
confidant
confident
confinement
conflict
conformist
confront
confrontationist
congealment
congest
congregationalist
congruent
conjoint
conjunct
connect
conodont
conquest
conscript
consent
consequent
conservationist
consignment
consist
consistent
consonant
consort
constant
constituent
constitutionalist
constraint
constrict
construct
constructionist
consult
consultant
consumerist
contact
containment
contaminant
contempt
content
contentment
contest
contestant
context
continent
contingent
continuant
contort
contortionist
contrabandist
contract
contradict
contrast
controversialist
controvert
convalescent
convect
convenient
convent
conventionalist
convergent
conversant
conversationalist
convert
convict

While I'm guessing it's just an invalid way of contracting "continued", some of the words in the list can be fun to consider as possibilities.

It is indeed Continued. Woodstock exists on both sides of 290 and probably connected before 290 was built.

[empirestate]

I like the terminology "Keep Right Except to Pass" because it most precisely states what the law is.  "Slower traffic keep right" is not as precise.

I agree, and I also think many people don't like to think of themselves as "slow" or "slower," especially people who have the mindset "I'm going the speed limit, so I'm not slow."

At the same time, even "Keep Right Except To Pass" isn't explicit enough for some drivers. I do believe many people get on the highway thinking, since they plan to go fast and therefore pass pretty much everyone they come upon, that they should just stay in the left lane the whole time.

This is related to the tendency in California (elsewhere?) to refer to the left-most lane as the "fast lane" rather than the "passing lane". The idea is that as long as you intend to be faster than other drivers, you belong in the fast lane.

[hbelkins]

I've seen similar abominations in Virginia, but this was the most recent discovery. A US marker was turned upside down and an attempt was made to convert it into a circle for a secondary route marker.

[jbnv]

Looks like an upside-down pig's head. Oink!

I've seen similar abominations in Virginia, but this was the most recent discovery. A US marker was turned upside down and an attempt was made to convert it into a circle for a secondary route marker.

[formulanone]

I've seen similar abominations in Virginia, but this was the most recent discovery. A US marker was turned upside down and an attempt was made to convert it into a circle for a secondary route marker.

Looks like a gas mask.

[Avalanchez71]

Is SSR 720 a former routing of US 460 for that stretch?

[Ian]

I've seen similar abominations in Virginia, but this was the most recent discovery. A US marker was turned upside down and an attempt was made to convert it into a circle for a secondary route marker.

Looks like a gas mask.

Upside down, it looks like a pigs head.

[Mapmikey]

Is SSR 720 a former routing of US 460 for that stretch?

SR 720 was signed as TEMP US 460 from 1979-87 when the freeway between US 19 and the SR 720 exit near the state line was not built.  Prior to this US 460 followed US 19.

US 460 is still prominently posted with US 19 all through Bluefield VA.

[broadhurst04]

I do believe many people get on the highway thinking, since they plan to go fast and therefore pass pretty much everyone they come upon, that they should just stay in the left lane the whole time.

This is related to the tendency in California (elsewhere?) to refer to the left-most lane as the "fast lane" rather than the "passing lane". The idea is that as long as you intend to be faster than other drivers, you belong in the fast lane.

Exactly. If the left lane were used for passing only, it would be much emptier than it typically is. The rule on paper may say the left lane is for passing only, but in the real world a lot of drivers get in the left lane and use it as a travel lane because they feel the speed limit is either too low or that it's another egregious example of government overreach (THEY can't tell ME how to drive MY car). They interpret Keep Right as a legal loophole that allows them to ignore speed limits because if they get stopped they can tell the officer that they were merely passing slower drivers in the right lane.

[NYhwyfan]

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9807233,-78.9072612,3a,26.6y,74.23h,80.38t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7tAFJHtaSvhB80xYfP_2hw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Something other than a diamond?

[1995hoo]

I like the terminology "Keep Right Except to Pass" because it most precisely states what the law is.  "Slower traffic keep right" is not as precise.

I agree, and I also think many people don't like to think of themselves as "slow" or "slower," especially people who have the mindset "I'm going the speed limit, so I'm not slow."

At the same time, even "Keep Right Except To Pass" isn't explicit enough for some drivers. I do believe many people get on the highway thinking, since they plan to go fast and therefore pass pretty much everyone they come upon, that they should just stay in the left lane the whole time.

This is related to the tendency in California (elsewhere?) to refer to the left-most lane as the "fast lane" rather than the "passing lane". The idea is that as long as you intend to be faster than other drivers, you belong in the fast lane.

A few years ago we had a discussion about this issue on another forum I used to visit, and one guy from California said their DMV instructional manual apparently says the left lane is the "fast cruising lane." Seems he had a daughter who was of learner's permit age and he told her to get out of the left lane unless she was passing and she "corrected" him by citing the California DMV manual. We all told him to tell her that regardless of what the manual may say, it's obnoxious to hog the left lane.

My wife gets annoyed at me because if I'm on an open Interstate or similar road with two lanes and I'm going faster than people in the right lane but someone is coming up faster than I am, I will sometimes slow down, move over to the right, let the faster driver go by, and then move back over to the left to continue passing the slower traffic. My feeling is I hate being held up, so why should I hold up someone else? Obviously in urban/suburban driving it's not always that simple, of course.

I've seen similar abominations in Virginia, but this was the most recent discovery. A US marker was turned upside down and an attempt was made to convert it into a circle for a secondary route marker.

To me that looks like a pig squatting down to take a dump.

[kphoger]

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9807233,-78.9072612,3a,26.6y,74.23h,80.38t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7tAFJHtaSvhB80xYfP_2hw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Something other than a diamond?

It's to warn you, in case you intend to turn onto that street, that trucks are known to use it.

[jbnv]

My wife gets annoyed at me because if I'm on an open Interstate or similar road with two lanes and I'm going faster than people in the right lane but someone is coming up faster than I am, I will sometimes slow down, move over to the right, let the faster driver go by, and then move back over to the left to continue passing the slower traffic. My feeling is I hate being held up, so why should I hold up someone else? Obviously in urban/suburban driving it's not always that simple, of course.

I've developed the habit of hanging out in the second-leftmost lane. That lets me observe the law while passing everything that's slower than me. It also lets the cop-bait fly past me to the left. (Now if there are a line of cars in the leftmost lane, I'll jump into it and just follow them.)

[1995hoo]

My wife gets annoyed at me because if I'm on an open Interstate or similar road with two lanes and I'm going faster than people in the right lane but someone is coming up faster than I am, I will sometimes slow down, move over to the right, let the faster driver go by, and then move back over to the left to continue passing the slower traffic. My feeling is I hate being held up, so why should I hold up someone else? Obviously in urban/suburban driving it's not always that simple, of course.

I've developed the habit of hanging out in the second-leftmost lane. That lets me observe the law while passing everything that's slower than me. It also lets the cop-bait fly past me to the left. (Now if there are a line of cars in the leftmost lane, I'll jump into it and just follow them.)

That's why I said "with two lanes." Maybe I should have been more specific–I meant "with only two lanes per side."

[Android]

FYI - we do have a thread just for damaged signs...  (that STOP sign image belongs there, not here)

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=1353.0

[TR69]

FYI - we do have a thread just for damaged signs...  (that STOP sign image belongs there, not here)

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=1353.0

Thanks!

[NYhwyfan]

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9807233,-78.9072612,3a,26.6y,74.23h,80.38t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7tAFJHtaSvhB80xYfP_2hw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Something other than a diamond?

It's to warn you, in case you intend to turn onto that street, that trucks are known to use it.

What I meant or should've said was probably a sign other than the small diamond (30x30") could've been used

[kphoger]

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9807233,-78.9072612,3a,26.6y,74.23h,80.38t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7tAFJHtaSvhB80xYfP_2hw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Something other than a diamond?

It's to warn you, in case you intend to turn onto that street, that trucks are known to use it.

What I meant or should've said was probably a sign other than the small diamond (30x30") could've been used

I know. A diamond shouldn't have been used at all, because those are warning signs.

[tckma]

I took my own photo of this one last year when I was in the area, but I can't find it.  Not sure whether to post this in "Worst of Road Signs" or "Signs With Design Errors," so it goes in both threads.

O'Fallon, IL:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.5725672,-89.9240178,3a,51.1y,166.86h,90.09t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s39RnGL69Ws5T_qTQBVp4BA!2e0!7i3328!8i1664!6m1!1e1

[Brandon]

I took my own photo of this one last year when I was in the area, but I can't find it.  Not sure whether to post this in "Worst of Road Signs" or "Signs With Design Errors," so it goes in both threads.

O'Fallon, IL:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.5725672,-89.9240178,3a,51.1y,166.86h,90.09t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s39RnGL69Ws5T_qTQBVp4BA!2e0!7i3328!8i1664!6m1!1e1

Either way, it's a misuse of a stop sign or the misuse of a diamond warning sign.