Unique, Odd, or Interesting Signs aka The good, the bad, and the ugly

[interstatefan990]

At the Comfort Inn by I-95 Exit 173 (no back-in parking sign should be white instead of yellow, but it is a hotel so....)

SR 613 SOUTH AT COMFORT INN by Mark Moore, on Flickr

So, this unassuming hotel is so strict about parking regulations that they have to prohibit back-in parking to maintain license plate visibility?

[TheCatalyst31]

At the Comfort Inn by I-95 Exit 173 (no back-in parking sign should be white instead of yellow, but it is a hotel so....)

SR 613 SOUTH AT COMFORT INN by Mark Moore, on Flickr

So, this unassuming hotel is so strict about parking regulations that they have to prohibit back-in parking to maintain license plate visibility?

My guess is it's one of two things: either they check license plates to make sure the cars parked in the lot belong to guests, or too many dinguses hit other cars while backing in and they got tired of it. Probably the first one, but I like the second one better.

[thenetwork]

At the Comfort Inn by I-95 Exit 173 (no back-in parking sign should be white instead of yellow, but it is a hotel so....)

SR 613 SOUTH AT COMFORT INN by Mark Moore, on Flickr

So, this unassuming hotel is so strict about parking regulations that they have to prohibit back-in parking to maintain license plate visibility?

My guess is it's one of two things: either they check license plates to make sure the cars parked in the lot belong to guests, or too many dinguses hit other cars while backing in and they got tired of it. Probably the first one, but I like the second one better.

Usually it is to keep vehicle exhausts and the resulting carbon monoxide away from the individual room A/C heating units on the first level as those units take in outside air to refresh that room.  Hotels are usually cool with back-in parking along the far edges of the parking lots.

[74/171FAN]

Hotels are usually cool with back-in parking along the far edges of the parking lots.

Yeah those signs were not around the entire parking lot.

[kphoger]

Note that the two vehicles in the background of the photo are both backed in.

[pderocco]

It's also possible that the signs are on those spaces because the management wants to be able to make sure the cars have handicap plates.

[kphoger]

It's also possible that the signs are on those spaces because the management wants to be able to make sure the cars have handicap plates.

But handicap plates aren't a requirement for parking there.  Placards give the exact same parking rights as plates—and they're only visible from the front.

[interstatefan990]

It's also possible that the signs are on those spaces because the management wants to be able to make sure the cars have handicap plates.

The spot in the right background where the white SUV is parked has the same No Back-In Parking sign, and it doesn't appear to be a handicap spot.

[thenetwork]

Note that the two vehicles in the background of the photo are both backed in.

I worked in jobs where I drove a company vehicle.  One job in particular always required me to back into parking spaces:

1) Because I drove a Ford Transit 250, modified 9-foot cargo van with solid rear does with no windows -- making it extremely dangerous to back out of a parking spot without being able to see potential cross-traffic.

2) Because they installed dash cams and what I called a "spy device" that tracks and reports speeding over a certain amount, harsh braking and turning as well as using reverse immediately after starting the van. Thus the rule was "You better have a darn good reason why you had to back up or get written up".

Sometimes I'd be one of the last to arrive at a fully booked hotel for the night and have no choice to back into a spot up against the building to avoid pleading my case with the bosses later in the week.

[pderocco]

Note that the two vehicles in the background of the photo are both backed in.

I worked in jobs where I drove a company vehicle.  One job in particular always required me to back into parking spaces:

1) Because I drove a Ford Transit 250, modified 9-foot cargo van with solid rear does with no windows -- making it extremely dangerous to back out of a parking spot without being able to see potential cross-traffic.

2) Because they installed dash cams and what I called a "spy device" that tracks and reports speeding over a certain amount, harsh braking and turning as well as using reverse immediately after starting the van. Thus the rule was "You better have a darn good reason why you had to back up or get written up".

Sometimes I'd be one of the last to arrive at a fully booked hotel for the night and have no choice to back into a spot up against the building to avoid pleading my case with the bosses later in the week.

Thank heaven for backup cams.

[kphoger]

Yeah those signs were not around the entire parking lot.

Note that the two vehicles in the background of the photo are both backed in.

I worked in jobs where I drove a company vehicle.  One job in particular always required me to back into parking spaces: ...

My point was only that the whole parking lot obviously isn't back-in-only.

[vdeane]

Note that the two vehicles in the background of the photo are both backed in.

I worked in jobs where I drove a company vehicle.  One job in particular always required me to back into parking spaces:

1) Because I drove a Ford Transit 250, modified 9-foot cargo van with solid rear does with no windows -- making it extremely dangerous to back out of a parking spot without being able to see potential cross-traffic.

2) Because they installed dash cams and what I called a "spy device" that tracks and reports speeding over a certain amount, harsh braking and turning as well as using reverse immediately after starting the van. Thus the rule was "You better have a darn good reason why you had to back up or get written up".

Sometimes I'd be one of the last to arrive at a fully booked hotel for the night and have no choice to back into a spot up against the building to avoid pleading my case with the bosses later in the week.

Thank heaven for backup cams.

A backup camera wouldn't remove the requirement to back in, as it doesn't show cross traffic, only what's immediately behind you.  They're meant to prevent people from running over children in the blind spot, not avoid getting T-boned because they didn't (or couldn't) look at traffic.

[kphoger]

I remember one time I almost had a heart attack.  This was back in southern Illinois, when I drove a delivery route of janitorial supplies in the area, using a 2001 Isuzu cab-over box truck.  One of our accounts was the school district in Mount Vernon.  Back then, my deliveries to the middle school were made way up at the top of this big wide sidewalk (sorry for the grainy old GSV, but they've built a building since then and now there's a staircase where I used to drive).  Drive into the service drive, then up the sidewalk, all the way to the hallway doors, then park and unload, then cart stuff into the mechanical room.

For visibility reasons, I used to back in wherever and whenever possible—especially at schools.  That whole sidewalk area was used as a common area when students would go from class to class between periods.  One day when I was done with my delivery, it was between periods, and the pavement was a sea of students.  Now, this particular school had its share of trouble-makers—even more, I'd say, than the 'alternative learning center' on the south side of town, just because the number of total students was so much larger.

Anyway, as students were swarming the area, I inched my truck ever so slowly down the sidewalk through the ocean of kids.  As I was approaching the bottom and getting ready to turn onto the service drive, I heard a loud THUNK! on the truck.  Oh, shit! and my heart about stopped.

Nah.  Some punk kid had decided it would be funny if he kicked his shoe off at the truck, and it hit the side.  Just a shoe, not a dead child.

[Android]

I have a sign I want to talk about, sort of.

This is in Central Wyoming, on WY59 at the Cambpell/Converse county line.  On the east side of the highway there is a widened shoulder that often mistaken for a parking area.  It isn't, it is intended as a place for snow plows to make U-Turns. But WYDOT never put up a sign stating this.

Last fall WYDOT went and expanded this by making another, larger such bulge in the shoulder on the opposite, west side of the road, gravel at that time.  They also marked it with a sign.  SNOW PLOW TURNAROUND.  1000 FT AHEAD.   

I have seen some snow plow signs in my travels but never one exactly like this and I often would drive by it on the way home and think that I should remember to bring one of my good cameras and get a photo of it some time.   

Then last month WYDOT went and finished that new area by paving it.   They also flipped the sign down for the summer.  I had not even registered that it was a flipper sign until they did this.  The result was something else I found amusing... the sign now has a different meaning about what to do 1000 feet ahead.  (and this is 114 miles south of where WY59 meets the Montana state line)

I'll have to wait a few months before I see the snow plow side of it again, but yesterday I finally remembered to put a good camera in my car and took this image on my way home. 

[kphoger]

That hilarious.  Stupid WYDOT...

[pderocco]

Note that the two vehicles in the background of the photo are both backed in.

I worked in jobs where I drove a company vehicle.  One job in particular always required me to back into parking spaces:

1) Because I drove a Ford Transit 250, modified 9-foot cargo van with solid rear does with no windows -- making it extremely dangerous to back out of a parking spot without being able to see potential cross-traffic.

2) Because they installed dash cams and what I called a "spy device" that tracks and reports speeding over a certain amount, harsh braking and turning as well as using reverse immediately after starting the van. Thus the rule was "You better have a darn good reason why you had to back up or get written up".

Sometimes I'd be one of the last to arrive at a fully booked hotel for the night and have no choice to back into a spot up against the building to avoid pleading my case with the bosses later in the week.

Thank heaven for backup cams.

A backup camera wouldn't remove the requirement to back in, as it doesn't show cross traffic, only what's immediately behind you.  They're meant to prevent people from running over children in the blind spot, not avoid getting T-boned because they didn't (or couldn't) look at traffic.

I disagree. Many backup cams, at least nowadays, have fish-eye lenses, and can see almost sideways. Pull out six inches past the adjacent vehicles, and you get a good view of what's coming on either side.

[pderocco]

I have a sign I want to talk about, sort of.

This is in Central Wyoming, on WY59 at the Cambpell/Converse county line.  On the east side of the highway there is a widened shoulder that often mistaken for a parking area.  It isn't, it is intended as a place for snow plows to make U-Turns. But WYDOT never put up a sign stating this.

Last fall WYDOT went and expanded this by making another, larger such bulge in the shoulder on the opposite, west side of the road, gravel at that time.  They also marked it with a sign.  SNOW PLOW TURNAROUND.  1000 FT AHEAD.   

I have seen some snow plow signs in my travels but never one exactly like this and I often would drive by it on the way home and think that I should remember to bring one of my good cameras and get a photo of it some time.   

Then last month WYDOT went and finished that new area by paving it.   They also flipped the sign down for the summer.  I had not even registered that it was a flipper sign until they did this.  The result was something else I found amusing... the sign now has a different meaning about what to do 1000 feet ahead.  (and this is 114 miles south of where WY59 meets the Montana state line)

I'll have to wait a few months before I see the snow plow side of it again, but yesterday I finally remembered to put a good camera in my car and took this image on my way home. 

There's no real reason to hide the "snowplow turnaround" sign in the summer. They don't hide "school bus stop ahead" signs in the summer, do they?

[interstatefan990]

I disagree. Many backup cams, at least nowadays, have fish-eye lenses, and can see almost sideways. Pull out six inches past the adjacent vehicles, and you get a good view of what's coming on either side.

There's also rear cross-traffic alert systems, which I appreciate highly, although they're a much less common feature.

[tigerwings]

My employer also requires backing in, if we cannot use a pull-thru space, for the whole fleet. You have a better when you arrive. 

I drive a Chevy 2500 with a slide in work box.

[Max Rockatansky]

How Mariposa County announces a pocket of Forest Drive they maintain within a private property island surrounded by the Wawona area of Yosemite National Park:

IMG_4809 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[ClassicHasClass]

I disagree. Many backup cams, at least nowadays, have fish-eye lenses, and can see almost sideways. Pull out six inches past the adjacent vehicles, and you get a good view of what's coming on either side.

There's also rear cross-traffic alert systems, which I appreciate highly, although they're a much less common feature.

Our new Civic has one of these. Works pretty well.

[thenetwork]

Not a highway sign but definitely could mean many things:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Ei4bEG1dt/

[CoreySamson]

Here are some interesting signs I saw in Houston last week:

Firstly, at the I-610/FM 521 interchange on the WB ramp from TX 288, there is this tiny can-you-even-call-it-a-BGS:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/RGUc8qcBSiBYN7mK9


This is not the first time that the Houston district of TxDOT has made tiny BGS's like this. There are several similar ones at the TX 146/FM 1764 interchange near Texas City.

If you're wondering where the sheetmetal to make that sign bigger went, well back up just a few hundred feet to this monstrosity:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/89AUp7Rjyk71PvmS8


Probably the BGS wasted-space candidate of the year right there.

At the I-610/Woodway Drive interchange, there are these semi-pictographic "LEFT on *green arrow* ONLY signs at the interchange:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/23oD3J3SVb7hBq8w8



And here's a very bizarrely interesting setup at a traffic signal in Houston, where Fannin St parallels the Red Line:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/M2NnwJ36XWkhPRaQ9


I've never seen tracks overlaid over a turn-per-lane sign, nor have I seen the green arrow/red X system used like this anywhere else. The tiny "YIELD TO TRAINS" plaque is also interesting. I can't help but think that this setup does not seem safe.

[elsmere241]

And here's a very bizarrely interesting setup at a traffic signal in Houston, where Fannin St parallels the Red Line:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/M2NnwJ36XWkhPRaQ9


I've never seen tracks overlaid over a turn-per-lane sign, nor have I seen the green arrow/red X system used like this anywhere else. The tiny "YIELD TO TRAINS" plaque is also interesting. I can't help but think that this setup does not seem safe.

It depends on how familiar the local populace is familiar with the system.

When I lived in Nashville (moved out in 1982, have since visited a handful of times) Metro was playing around with reversible lanes, and I remember one day seeing a couple of setups with a row of red Xs, maybe a yellow X, and one green arrow for the right-most lane.) and asking my mother what they meant.  (Once again, I tried her patience by asking the same question more than once.)  Many years later, I was driving somewhere in the Maryland part of the DMV and didn't know what a flashing yellow X represented.

The part of Wake County, NC that includes Apex basically has what was once US 1 running parallel to a railroad track.    Going "north" on Salem Street there was a light at Hunter Street/Old Raleigh Road (it's all been Hunter since the 2000s).  One sign would light up when there was (or soon would be) a train passing by.  It said "No Right Turn - Train" in red on black.

Downtown, Salem and the tracks are a half-block apart.  Sometimes I'd come home from work around 12:30 to 1:00 am to see a train parked over several blocks downtown. Twice after work I was impatient to get home and flew down Salem Street coming in from the north.  Both times I was pulled over, the cop told me how fast I'd been going, and after running a check on me would let me go without even a verbal warning.

Around here, there are several sets of tracks on Centerville Road just south of Walmart.  The tracks were built to accommodate the GM plant a bit to the south that the DuPonts brought home when they at least controlled the company.  (An Amazon distribution center is at that spot now.)  They're starting to talk about mitigating that setup.  In the meantime there are railroad crossing signs with flashing lights all over the area, just for that crossing.

[roadman65]

Interesting, but very effective way to warn truckers the clearance of the bridge by having an attached sign turned to face traffic of the clearance of the structure over the road.