Bye-bye, witty road signs: Feds ban funny electronic messages on highways

"Alcohol you later. Don't drink and drive."

“Turn signals, the original instant messaging.”

“Get the cell off your phone and drive.”

These are just a few entertaining, witty U.S. Department of Transportation electronic safety signs motorist catch sight of driving across the nation's interstates. But not much longer.

Last month, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration released its updated 1,100-page manual, which includes rules regulating signs and other traffic control devices. Under changes outlined in the handbook, the quirky signs aimed at raising awareness about highway safety will soon disappear.

Overhead electronic signs with "obscure meanings, references to pop culture or those intended to be funny" will be phased out nationwide over the next couple of years because "they can be misunderstood or distracting to drivers," the Associated Press reported.

Signs should be "simple, direct, brief, legible and clear," and must only be used to "relay important information," including warning drivers of crashes ahead, inclement weather conditions or traffic delays, the AP reported.

Lane blockages, road conditions and Amber Alerts

In recent years, states including Tennessee have held safety message contests to alert Tennessee motorists to incidents like lane blockages, hazardous road conditions or Amber Alerts.

Just over a decade ago, the Tennessee Department of Transportations became the first transportation department in the nation to display roadway fatality numbers on the overhead signs, according to The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. In addition to the fatality statistics, state officials say, safety messages began to be displayed during off-peak travel times.

In other states like Wisconsin, DOT employees picked puns for overhead highway messages, according to The Milwaukee Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.

In 2020, the Sheboygan Press interviewed WisDOT's then communications manager Jon Riemann said the messages were planned two months in advance and were a collaborative effort between him, law enforcement, traffic safety engineers, civil engineers and the office assistant.

Some of his "best-received" messages included, "That's the temperature, not the speed limit" and one posted on May 4, Star Wars Day, a few years back that read, "Han says, 'Solo down, Leia off the gas.'"

Contributing: Claire Reid, The Milwaukee Journal and The Associated Press

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.