Daily conversation: What is the worst possible answer?

[kphoger]

2025-11-01:
Why do some cities make street name signs out of two back-to-back pieces of metal?

Because if they were front-to-front, you couldn't read the street name. Duh.

Definitely the winning answer.

11/3/25: What practice from a neighboring state/province/other jurisdiction DOT would be good to import to where you live?

Exit numbers crammed onto the main sign panel, allowing the DOT to save twenty bucks on exit tabs, and letting sign designers show off their cleverness in cramming ten pounds of shit in a five-pound bag.

This is supposed to be "worst", not "best".  Your proposal would solve a lot of wind loading issues in Nevada.

[hotdogPi]

From New Hampshire: Massachusetts shouldn't require seat belts.

[JayhawkCO]

Since we didn't have one for today and it's nearly 10:30 PM EST (and because I just got inspired):

11/3/25: What practice from a neighboring state/province/other jurisdiction DOT would be good to import to where you live?

Road sign quality from Oklahoma.

[kphoger]

From New Hampshire: Massachusetts shouldn't require seat belts.

I still don't know why someone should be required to protect his or her own life while driving.  Same with towns that require bicycle helmets even for adults.

[vdeane]

From New Hampshire: Massachusetts shouldn't require seat belts.

I still don't know why someone should be required to protect his or her own life while driving.  Same with towns that require bicycle helmets even for adults.

It basically is because a person not wearing a seatbelt becomes a high-speed projectile in many crashes, which can cause injury to others.  But that first sentence could be refactored into another question for a different day...

[GaryV]

From New Hampshire: Massachusetts shouldn't require seat belts.

Live free AND die? 

[kphoger]

It basically is because a person not wearing a seatbelt becomes a high-speed projectile in many crashes, which can cause injury to others.

Call me cynical, but I suspect seat belt laws have more to do with the dollar amount of insurance claims and medical care than they have to do with the lives of the people those claims represent.

[PColumbus73]

Since we didn't have one for today and it's nearly 10:30 PM EST (and because I just got inspired):

11/3/25: What practice from a neighboring state/province/other jurisdiction DOT would be good to import to where you live?

NC should embrace SC's road standards as their own, they've had it too good

[TheCatalyst31]

Since we didn't have one for today and it's nearly 10:30 PM EST (and because I just got inspired):

11/3/25: What practice from a neighboring state/province/other jurisdiction DOT would be good to import to where you live?

Wisconsin should sign the first few miles of I-90 north of the Illinois border as "To I-90", creating another tiresome debate over whether it's a gap or not.

[Scott5114]

This is supposed to be "worst", not "best".  Your proposal would solve a lot of wind loading issues in Nevada.

We already solved those, though.

[ModernDayWarrior]

Since we didn't have one for today and it's nearly 10:30 PM EST (and because I just got inspired):

11/3/25: What practice from a neighboring state/province/other jurisdiction DOT would be good to import to where you live?

Missouri should join the ArDOT bandwagon and extend US highways into the state along routings that make no logical sense. Extend US 56 to Springfield via MO 7 and MO 13. Or take US 167 to St. Louis along MO 19, MO 106 and MO 21.

[Henry]

Since we didn't have one for today and it's nearly 10:30 PM EST (and because I just got inspired):

11/3/25: What practice from a neighboring state/province/other jurisdiction DOT would be good to import to where you live?

Both MODOT and WISDOT sign and maintain lettered routes, so why not give some to IDOT too?

[NE2]

Since we didn't have one for today and it's nearly 10:30 PM EST (and because I just got inspired):

11/3/25: What practice from a neighboring state/province/other jurisdiction DOT would be good to import to where you live?

Both MODOT and WISDOT sign and maintain lettered routes, so why not give some to IDOT too?

There, now you got a bad answer by including false information. Good boy.

[freebrickproductions]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

[Scott5114]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

Memphis, Huntsville, and Atlanta never merged into a single hyphenated city.

[roadman65]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

You have US 72 thst might not be freeway, but its four lanes and adequate.   I've driven it from I-240 to Muscle Shoals and its not a bad drive.

[freebrickproductions]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

You have US 72 thst might not be freeway, but its four lanes and adequate.   I've driven it from I-240 to Muscle Shoals and its not a bad drive.

It's definitely not a bad drive, but that's not an answer to the question. Plus, US 72 doesn't go to Atlanta either.

[MikeTheActuary]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

Delta Airlines, frustrated with the level of competition at ATL, had some success at finding other ways to exert monopoly power.

[MikeTheActuary]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

The sprawl of Atlanta's metro area is growing such that Huntsville and Memphis will soon be assimiliated.

It goes without saying that to be a part of metro Atlanta's sprawl, different suburbs can't be too-well connected.   Thus the freeway wasn't allowed.

[Scott5114]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

You have US 72 thst might not be freeway, but its four lanes and adequate.   I've driven it from I-240 to Muscle Shoals and its not a bad drive.

Why is this the worst possible answer?

[hotdogPi]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

Getting from Corinth to Florence or Rome requires going through too much water for a bridge.

[PColumbus73]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

The control city would have been Not Tennessee, which hurt Tennessee's feelings

[1995hoo]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

Because they listened to the song and realized it needed to run to Oriole instead of to Memphis.

[Henry]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

Because there was a coin flip to determine which city would get a new Interstate connection to Memphis, and Huntsville lost to Birmingham.

[xonhulu]

11-4-25: Why wasn't the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta freeway ever built?

The planners permuted the name to Huntsville-Atlanta-Memphis, or HAM, then realized you don't need a freeway for that, just a Subway.