Maine Senator Angus King (I) is calling for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to protect humorous and witty highway signs that he says “breaks through the traffic jam of information” and are more memorable to drivers.
In his pun-filled letter to DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, King quipped that he is writing to ensure that with Buttigieg “at the wheel” the DOT is not “driving distracted in our nation’s quest for safer streets.”
Sen. King’s letter comes after the U.S. Federal Highway Administration released regulations in January strongly recommending against overhead electronic highway signage with quirky messages or pop culture references intended to be funny.
“As a cosponsor of the Road to Zero resolution in the Senate, I believe that implementing proven measures to reduce traffic deaths should be among the foremost responsibilities of the DOT,” Sen. King wrote. “However, that does not include a ban on signs which through humor or wit attempt to give their messages a bit of fresh tread; I hope we can avoid a head-on collision on this.”
According to King, the DOT should address the “mile-long backup of traffic safety issues,” including distracted driving, impaired driving, speeding, the size and weight of vehicles, and vehicle safety features — rather than curb clever highway signage.
King argued that phrases like “Click it or ticket” and “Drive sober or get pulled over” would be more memorable to drivers than phrases suggested by the Federal Highway Administration, which include “Unbuckled seat belts fine + points,” and “Impaired drivers lose license + jail.”
In his letter the Maine independent Senator asked Secretary Buttigieg to respond to the following questions:
1. Will you commit that the Department of Transportation, and subagencies therein, will not sanction or discourage, formally or informally, states which use humor or pop culture references while conveying an otherwise appropriate safety message?
2. Will you commit that the Department of Transportation, and subagencies therein, will not withhold or threaten to withhold funding to states which use humor or pop culture references while conveying an otherwise appropriate safety message?
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="25609 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=25609">4 Comments
Anus King once referred to Nine Dragons LLC in Rumford as a person. He was touring the [triad] pulp mill with med-care ambulance and speaking about the [big pharma] opioid epidemic. I believe it was quoted in sun journal.
King’s been smoking too much Chinese Weed. King really wants to be able to post propaganda and political messages on those e-signs.
this feckless terd needs to GO! Do something useful you twit!
Good to see this doddering fool is concentrating on the important stuff.