So much for Capitalism

[TommyK]

Source:

The Week magazine, Oct 15, 2010, v. 10, i. 485, pg 9, "The US At A Glance."

 

New York

The Big Apple, lower case: New York City last

week began changing city street signs --- all 250,900 of them -- to upper

and lower case from all capital letters that have graced them for more than a

century. Federal Highway Administration officials say that the new signs,

in which only the first letter is capitalized, are easier to read, enabling

drivers to spend less time with their eyes averted from the road. The

change, they say, will save lives. At $110 per sign, the effort will

also cost New York state $27.6 million. City Transportation Commissioner

Janette Sadik-Khan noted an additional benefit of the switch: It's more

polite "Writing in all caps means you are shouting," she said.

 

BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA.... I mean:

 

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha...

 

Wait a minit.... there's probably some federal dollars involve(mine).

 

Mind you these are just the street name signs. No word that "STOP" will be

changed to "Stop" or "ONE WAY" to "One way" But if they do they'd better

be sure to add some "Please's" and "Thank-You's". We wouldn't want to

be impolite. But seriously, the FHA is mandating this? But no apparent

need to change other traffic control signs, the aforementioned "STOP"

and ONE WAY to the politer mixed letters.

[stevef]

Hmmmmmmmmmm.

[EVOL!]

1. Not sure what this has to do with capitalism.

 

2. God forbid we spend tax dollars to improve something as central to this country as traffic signs.

 

3. This would be silly anywhere else but New York since

 

a. New York is the only city I can think of that can have six or more signs per pole

 

b. I tend not to read the writing on a sign because the shapes or symbols are explicit. What do you think of when you see a red octagon with a white boarder? No left turn, right?

 

4. Unless you live in one of those states that pays more into the federal government than it receives back, shut it.

[damian]

Perhaps all STOP signs should be changed to " If you would, please, kindly don't go " .....And in school zones they could read, " Baby, please don't go "

But then again, the same signs should also be posted in Spanish, Polish, Lithoanian, French, Swahilli, Manderian, German, Piglatian,.............

=;

[TommyK]

1. Not sure what this has to do with capitalism.

 

It's a pun.

 

...4. Unless you live in one of those states that pays more into the federal government than it receives back, shut it.

 

I live in Down State Chicargo, so I'm in.

 

Perhaps all STOP signs should be changed to " If you would, please, kindly don't go " .....And in school zones they could read, " Baby, please don't go "

But then again, the same signs should also be posted in Spanish, Polish, Lithoanian, French, Swahilli, Manderian, German, Piglatian,.............

=;

 

Don't for get Ebonics.

 

Actually, the thing that I find hilarious is the 'politness' statement.

 

I'm all for making signs legible and understandable. I just don't get that spending millions of dollars to change perfectly legible and understandable signs makes good sense. If you must, change them as it becomes necessary through attrition. Lord knows we have enough things to spend money on as it is.

[Bowdiddley]

1. Not sure what this has to do with capitalism.

 

2. God forbid we spend tax dollars to improve something as central to this country as traffic signs.

 

3. This would be silly anywhere else but New York since

 

a. New York is the only city I can think of that can have six or more signs per pole

 

b. I tend not to read the writing on a sign because the shapes or symbols are explicit. What do you think of when you see a red octagon with a white boarder? No left turn, right?

 

4. Unless you live in one of those states that pays more into the federal government than it receives back, shut it.

 

Do you really think this is an improvement? If so why?

[EVOL!]

Do you really think this is an improvement? If so why?

 

I will say that the argument that all capital letters on a sign look like yelling is silly. And this would not work in other cities/towns/villages. Doing this in my home town in rural Michigan would be silly too. The argument that it makes the signs more readable is very valid. In a city like New York where poles are crowded with signs and your sight is bombarded with lights and billboards this might help. Plus, it is one of the immigrant centers of the US. Might help orient first time in America people better.

[EVOL!]

I live in Down State Chicargo, so I'm in.

 

 

word.

[stevef]

13. This would be silly anywhere else but New York since

 

a. New York is the only city I can think of that can have six or more signs per pole

 

 

The signs are usually the Parking regulations for the block.

No Parking 8am-4pm.

No Parking 4pm-6pm.

No Parking 6pm-12am.

No Standing Anytime.

No Overnight Parking.

And the Alternate Side of the Street (supposedly for street cleaning) parking signs:

No Parking this Side Mon-Wed-Fri. Or No Parking this Side Tue-Thu-Sat.

[sparky scott 29]

I've heard of these signs as of you speak...

We usually say, " When you come to the red barn turn right, follow that to the dogleg, turn left, go down to old and Smith's place......ect...

[rocketman]

 

Yeah they would change it because the V has to be lowercase. The amazing thing is that someone probably did a study to see if the elderly would see the signs better in lowercase. So they've wasted research dollars on a stupid idea and then used the results of that study to justify the stupid idea...

[damian]

Yeah they would change it because the V has to be lowercase. The amazing thing is that someone probably did a study to see if the elderly would see the signs better in lowercase. So they've wasted research dollars on a stupid idea and then used the results of that study to justify the stupid idea...

 

 

SIGN, SIGN, EVERYWHERE A SIGN: LOWER CASE LETTERS, BREAKING MY MIND

DO THIS DON'T DO THAT, CAN'T YOU READ THE SIGN?

[canon_mutant]

Wait a minute. What about braille? Hey, we've got braille on all our drive thru ATMs . . .

 

just sayin' . . .

 

Plus the all CAPS thing makes me feel like the road signs are yelling at me or something.

[damian]

Ya know, I strongly suggest that in the interest of being politically correct, as well as being polite, pehaps ALL stop signs, road signs, highway signs, etc, should be retro fitted with braille. It would be the " polite " thing to do. :unsure:

 

 

" How can someone be so unkind, as to arrest someone for driving while blind " Good O'l ZZ

[TommyK]

Yeah they would change it because the V has to be lowercase. The amazing thing is that someone probably did a study to see if the elderly would see the signs better in lowercase. So they've wasted research dollars on a stupid idea and then used the results of that study to justify the stupid idea...

 

I don't think it's the elderly they are trying to help.

 

My guess is it is the semi-literate people we've been turning out of our schools.

 

Back in the 80-s and 90's, possibly sooner in the big cities, teaching children to read by sounding out the words (phonics) was supplanted by a newer, easier, better, lemon freshened method called Look Say. The school district my kids were in were using the last vestages of it when my youngest daughter was in Kindergarten. Basically they'd tell you to look at the first letter of the word, (balloon) let's say, then find something in the picture that began with 'b' and had some l's in it. Part of this non-sense is to look at a word and match it to a shape that matches the word. Bascially the shape could be made by taking a word, then covering it with black marker so that l's and b's and d's would be high parts of the word, and a's n's and m's would be lower parts of the silhouette. At a parent-teacher conference, the teacher was delighted to say that my daughter could read. I knew better there weree words on the board, but I saw that the words written on a card stuck to the board had a picture next to it. I sneakily took one of the words off the board. I took the word Orange off the board, showed it to my daughter and she had no clue what the word was without it's picture. No, she ain't reading. That night we ordered "Hooked On Phonics". By the end of the school year my daughter was reading books to the rest of the class while she was still trying to get the "look Say" method to work on another group of kids.

 

My guess is these look-say taught graduates cannot figure out MANHATTAN AV, but Manhattan Av, no problem, because they know what the silhouette of Manhattan, ought to look like. Although Mulholland might give them a tough time. This is not to single out New Yorkers, as this mandate came from DC.

[Shnate McDuanus]

I thought the "Capitalism" deal was a rather clever pun. I don't laugh audibly very often, but that definitely got me to do so.

 

For the record, I was reading before I got into my first year of compulsory education. I largely attribute it to the fact that my folks took a proactive role in my education early on--when I was younger (and I don't remember this, but my parents swear by it) they would very often read to me with the book placed flat in front of me. I was reading at the age of four.

 

Back on topic, though: the whole thing with changing the signs is ridiculous and a waste of money. That's New York politics for ya. There are other municipal projects (i.e. a 2nd avenue subway line, highway renovation, and so on) that could use that money much more. I am pissed.

[stevef]

 

Federal Highway Administration officials say that the new signs,

in which only the first letter is capitalized, are easier to read, enabling

drivers to spend less time with their eyes averted from the road.

 

On a typical day in NYC traffic looks much like this....

You have plenty of time to read the signs, billboards, store windows, the NY Times or the Encyclopedia Britanica.

Braille would be fine too.

You've got plenty of time to get out of your dam car climb the pole

and "touch-read" the signs.

[TommyK]

On a typical day in NYC traffic looks much like this....

You have plenty of time to read the signs, billboards, store windows, the NY Times or the Encyclopedia Britanica.

Braille would be fine too.

You've got plenty of time to get out of your dam car climb the pole

and "touch-read" the signs.

[lol] [lol] [laugh]

[rocketman]

I don't think it's the elderly they are trying to help.

 

That's the excuse that the FHWA and USDOT are using...

 

BUFFALO, NY (WGRZ) -- Street signs in the area may look perfectly fine, but thanks to the federal government, the vast majority will have to come down.

 

Due to new orders coming from Washington, signs in all upper case font will eventually have to be replaced.

 

Congressman Brian Higgins disagrees with the mandate from the Federal Highway Administration and the US Department of Transportation. Those particular agencies say signs with upper and lower case letters are easier to read.

 

Local highway departments have until 2018 in most cases to replace the signs. Regulators hope most of the signs will just go in during routine replacement, but cities across the country say they'll shell out tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars collectively to meet these new standards.

 

Even stop signs, yield signs and some others must also be replaced; this regulation calls for better reflectivity so the signs will show up better at night. These emergency signs must all be replaced by 2015.

 

The FHWA and USDOT say the new signs will benefit older drivers, who typically can't see as well, but Assemblyman Mark Schroeder's biggest concern is cost. He said the fiscal mess in Albany will be made worse by this new regulation.

 

In New York City alone, replacing the signs will cost around $27 million. Buffalo is still calculating the cost.

[damian]

TommyK is correct; WHAT they ARE doing IS a CAPITAL crime...THEY should BE punished AND be HANDED a LONG sentence...

WHAT they ARE doing IS having AN adverb EFFECT on THE economy... :-k [bored] ......

 

THOSE folks IN washington ARE RE-NOUN for MAKING silly MISTAKES...... .....

[TommyK]

Let me see if I understand this:

 

1. Signs need to change to upper and lower case so they are easier to read, so as to improve traffic safety.

2. Street name signs are being replaced first.

3. Traffic control signs, which insure safety like Stop and Yield signs will come later.

 

Yeah, that sounds like a government job.

[Bowdiddley]

I just don't see how it would make a difference.

[NeoConMan]

When I'm President;

 

ALL stop signs will be replaced with YIELD signs.

Nobody coming (and you've checked completely) - then keep moving.

If somebody is coming, then you stop as you always would.

No more millions raked in for B.S. traffic citations where you slowed almost to a stop (1/10 of a mph).

Cause a wreck because you did not yield? It IS your fault - end of story.

 

 

Speed limits will be a LOT different.

Interstate 10 is 75 mph out here in the desert.

Then near my home in the middle of the desert there's a divided four-lane road called Sun Valley Parkway.

It wraps around the White Tank Mountains, connecting NW Phoenix with I-10 out west.

35 miles with NOTHING on it. The only breaks in the median are one mile apart for turning traffic.

Problem is, there are few places to turn. It's really a road to nowhere.

Speed limit is 55 for most of it, lowered to 50 recently where some homes are near the road.

STILL only able to get on or off the Pkwy at one-mile intervals, and traffic is almost non-existent.

 

Think of our conditions - no ice, rare clouds, and it seldom rains. Only small wildlife.

The only hazard is falling asleep from boredom.

 

Go into town where there are heavily-traveled six-lane urban streets crowded with truck traffic.

Six lanes with an open left-turn lane down the center, jammed with cars and pedestrians.

Accidents every day, people zig-zagging all over the place - speed limit is 45.

 

WHY?!?

 

 

Time to return personal responsibility and accountability for our actions to the individual.

[milod]

All kidding aside, there has been significant research into various sorts of type and readability. All upper case is harder to read.

 

OTOH, we have such as the all upper case "STOP" sign that isn't so much "read" as it is perceived for what it is as a symbol.

 

Korean Hangul is a writing system that lacks capital and lower case letters and clumps letters into syllables. I've often wondered whether it's easier for an "average" person to read or not.

 

As for changing road signs... I dunno. I think if you're going beyond the basics, you might find sentence "case" works better.

 

Is it worth the cash? I dunno. I doubt it.

 

m