VMS use during "normal" operations.

[agentsteel53]

Now that is totally inappropriate use of VMS's.  Signs supported by Federal tax dollars should not be permitted to advertise for private enterprises such as a sports team.  If they want to have a sign guiding drivers to a generic event ("Football Traffic", "Stadium Event", etc.) that is okay, but posting something that is really no more than an advertising message in a location that could distract drivers is really blatent abuse of traffic control devices, which are to be used for roadway/travel/safety related information only. 

meh.  I'd rail against the use of tax dollars to fund stadiums instead.

I (a Red Sox fan) would rather see 1000 "Go Yankees" VMSes than a single one reminding me to drive safely.  Either I will or I won't, and a VMS will not influence my decision one way or the other.

[mtantillo]

Still.  A government funded VMS should not be used to promote a private enterprise with no legal association with the city aside from its name.  They can advise people how to get to it, but if it doesn't affect the road user, it does not belong.  Sorry if people disagree, but traffic control devices are not for advertising.

[Brandon]

In Indiana they are usually kept off, but around Indianapolis on Labor Day Weekend they all said, "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over"

They did the same stupid message around the Calumet Region as well.  I would've preferred travel times.

That is what happens when INDOT actually has "travel time signs," though I have only seen one in operation on the Borman and another on the northside of Indy that isn't working yet, so travel times on the VMSs wouldn't be a bad idea temporarly.

Why not permanently?  ISTHA does this.  Why does InDOT need a separate sign for travel times?  It's a waste, IMHO.

As for the sports teams, lighten up Francis (mtantillo).

[mtantillo]

Haha, sorry, I think it just shows how annoyed I get with public expenditures on pro-sports, typically for stadiums. 

[thenetwork]

I would love to see VMS's, in their off time, display "common courtesy" messages, such as:

"LEFT LANE FOR PASSING ONLY -- NOT FOR LEADING PARADES!!!"

"YOU BOUGHT A CAR WITH TURN SIGNALS -- USE THEM!!!"

"THE SPEED LIMIT DOES *NOT* DROP 15 MPH BELOW THE POSTED LIMIT IF YOU SEE A POLICE CAR!!!"

"READING THIS SIGN SIDEWAYS??? THEN BUY A BLUETOOTH!!!"

"THIS AIN'T ENGLAND -- SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP *RIGHT*!!!"

[mtantillo]

LOL! 

Only thing is that the legal speed limit does drop to 15 or 20 below the posted limit if you are passing a police car and cannot "move over".  Here's a few more:

"I DIDN'T SEE A STOP SIGN AT THE END OF THAT RAMP, DID YOU?"

"NO TRUCKS IN LEFT LANE APPLIES TO YOU TOO!"

"PLEASE EXIT FROM THE RIGHT LANE, NOT ACROSS THE RIGHT LANE!!"

[Brandon]

LOL! 

Only thing is that the legal speed limit does drop to 15 or 20 below the posted limit if you are passing a police car and cannot "move over". 

Actually, it doesn't.  Scott's Law is usually so ill-defined that there is no threshold for slowing down.  There is none written into the laws usually.  It could be 2mph, or it could be 20mph, cop's discretion.

[1995hoo]

If we're talking about messages they should display, one that would be very timely here in the DC area would be....

"TURN ON YOUR HEADLIGHTS IN THE RAIN!"

alternating with–

"YOUR LOW-BEAMS!!! NOT THE PARKING LIGHTS, NOT THE HIGH-BEAMS!"

I went to pick up my wife yesterday night during the torrential downpours and it wasn't an easy drive between the amount of water, the invisible cars being driven without headlights, the people who think it's OK to use high-beams because it's not night, etc.....I suppose we should be thankful that our neighborhood is not flood-prone.



I like this one from above, BTW:

"READING THIS SIGN SIDEWAYS??? THEN BUY A BLUETOOTH!!!"

[Alex]

LOL! 

Only thing is that the legal speed limit does drop to 15 or 20 below the posted limit if you are passing a police car and cannot "move over". 

Actually, it doesn't.  Scott's Law is usually so ill-defined that there is no threshold for slowing down.  There is none written into the laws usually.  It could be 2mph, or it could be 20mph, cop's discretion.

It is 20 mph below the posted limit in Florida when in the lane adjacent to an emergency vehicles with lights on. Definitely a thing that varies from state to state.

[1995hoo]

LOL! 

Only thing is that the legal speed limit does drop to 15 or 20 below the posted limit if you are passing a police car and cannot "move over". 

Actually, it doesn't.  Scott's Law is usually so ill-defined that there is no threshold for slowing down.  There is none written into the laws usually.  It could be 2mph, or it could be 20mph, cop's discretion.

It is 20 mph below the posted limit in Florida when in the lane adjacent to an emergency vehicles with lights on. Definitely a thing that varies from state to state.

The boldfaced text is absolutely correct. Some states explicitly include vehicles like tow trucks, others don't. Best practice is just to move over, period, and to slow down if you can't. Regardless of whether you're "required" to do it, it's the "right" thing to do.

[thenetwork]

LOL! 

Only thing is that the legal speed limit does drop to 15 or 20 below the posted limit if you are passing a police car and cannot "move over". 

Agreed if the police is stopped on the shoulder, that slow-down-or-move-over law is logical.

I'm talking more when there is a cop car sitting in the median (safely off of & away from the traveling lanes) running radar or when a police car is traveling at or below the speed limit on the main roadways without any lights on, there's always a moron in the pack who will drop to 50MPH in a 65 zone "just in case" their speedometer is off by 16 MPH. 

[xcellntbuy]

This afternoon on the northbound Palmetto Expressway (FL 826) there was a VMS message size "Snooze You Lose" "Don't Drive Drowsy"

[brownpelican]

Travel times are given in the immediate urban areas in Louisiana and also alert drivers to construction/lane closures.

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway's VMS have messages such as "Drive Carefully", "Right Lane For Passing" and the number to dial for drivers who breakdown on the bridge and see unsafe driving conditions. They also give weather alerts, weather-related vehicle restrictions and gives the radio station that gives Causeway traffic info.

[mtantillo]

"Right Lane For Passing"

What?!??!?!?!??!?!??!??!

[Brandon]

LOL! 

Only thing is that the legal speed limit does drop to 15 or 20 below the posted limit if you are passing a police car and cannot "move over". 

Agreed if the police is stopped on the shoulder, that slow-down-or-move-over law is logical.

I'm talking more when there is a cop car sitting in the median (safely off of & away from the traveling lanes) running radar or when a police car is traveling at or below the speed limit on the main roadways without any lights on, there's always a moron in the pack who will drop to 50MPH in a 65 zone "just in case" their speedometer is off by 16 MPH. 

Then there's no reason to go lower than the limit.  Wave and let him know you see him, and he isn't as well hidden as he likes to think he is.

[brownpelican]

"Right Lane For Passing"

What?!??!?!?!??!?!??!??!

I kid you not...

[M86]

Do any other states use VMSs in this manner? Is this done because it is easier to change the message rather than powering on/booting the display signs? Does the MUTCD provide any guidance or regulations concerning this?

When I lived in Sioux Falls SD, SDDOT came under fire for not displaying messages about a severe blizzard.  One local TV station had a story about it, and it snowballed (no pun intended).  This was closer to the time that they were first installed along I-29/I-90.  When I lived there, they were rarely used (even for obvious things like road construction).  I think they installed them because of the Amber Alert.  Now, they are used for road construction, and other traveler info.

[mtantillo]

"Right Lane For Passing"

What?!??!?!?!??!?!??!??!

I kid you not...

That's annoying.  That's like in PA, when they do construction and shift all traffic over to one side, they often have a sign forcing trucks and buses to use the left lane.  That means that you have to pass them on the right, which is very dangerous, but you have no choice but to do it. 

Someone explained that they do it so that in a narrow two-lane cattle chute, truck drivers can better judge the distance to a barrier on the left than one to the right. 

[Mr_Northside]

That's annoying.  That's like in PA, when they do construction and shift all traffic over to one side, they often have a sign forcing trucks and buses to use the left lane.  That means that you have to pass them on the right, which is very dangerous, but you have no choice but to do it. 

Someone explained that they do it so that in a narrow two-lane cattle chute, truck drivers can better judge the distance to a barrier on the left than one to the right. 

Also, a lot of times they'll use shoulders to maintain two lanes of traffic.  Since the shoulders don't have the same pavement thickness, they don't want trucks driving on them.  (So, if the right lane in the const. zone is using the shoulder, they'll tell the trucks to stay in the left lane)