Nuclear sprinter
February 2, 2025 12:23 PM   Subscribe

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is widely considered to be a dry and unemotional document. Published by the Department of Transportation, it outlines the basic specifications of all the street signs you could expect to see out on roads and highways across the United States. Most are familiar, but if you dive deeper into its pages, you can find some unsettling relics from darker times. from If You Ever See This Speed Sign, You’re Probably Going To Die
posted by chavenet (15 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
"What did that sign say? Slow down...no, let's turn around, we need to go back and read it."
posted by mittens at 12:55 PM on February 2 [5 favorites]


We need some of these out here, where the speed limit is 55 on the highway and people go 37.2mph on it, because that's the speed they go everywhere. School zone? 37.2. Their driveway? 37.2. Fleeing nuclear Armageddon? 37.2. I'm pretty sure that if they drove off a cliff they'd somehow manage to plummet at 37.2 in defiance of the laws of physics.

I can remember seeing these signs in our classroom part of "driver's ed" back in 1980s high school. We did not spend any real time discussing them.
posted by maxwelton at 1:03 PM on February 2 [5 favorites]


in the post-apocalypse Cannonball Run variant, you have to defy these speed signs by driving as slowly as possible through the radiation zones without dying
posted by allegedly at 1:31 PM on February 2 [2 favorites]


Radiation safety!

Practice ALARA: keep your dose As Low As Reasonably Achievable.

Think about Distance, Shielding, and Time.

(In case it's not obvious, MORE Distance, MORE Shielding, and LESS Time are desirable—which has always driven me nuts but clearly they're trying to keep it short and easy to say and remember.)
posted by BrashTech at 1:32 PM on February 2 [1 favorite]




Can you buy these signs? It's probably cheaper to print and laminate them.
posted by jeffburdges at 1:55 PM on February 2 [1 favorite]


|------------------------------------------------
|Welcome to Wayward Pines
|🌲⛰️🏘️👤📷☎️💈🍭🌲
|------------------------------------------------
posted by clavdivs at 1:56 PM on February 2 [2 favorites]


"Maintain Top Safe Speed." Also the Montana highway speed limit from 1995-1999.
posted by ITravelMontana at 2:03 PM on February 2 [4 favorites]


In my experience, top safe speed depends mostly on how great a height you drop it from.
posted by phooky at 3:18 PM on February 2 [4 favorites]


It wasn't until this minute that I sounded out the title of the FPP. Now I'm laughing again.
posted by mittens at 3:35 PM on February 2 [2 favorites]


Can you buy these signs?

Custom traffic signs are a common thing to buy, you may even have some one local who can make them. Note that actual highway signs are generally bigger than you think (this one is 24x30 inches), the base is a pretty skookum piece of aluminum and the reflective surface is of higher quality than most retroreflective material you may have purchased previously. IE highway signs are made of expensive stuff and lots of it.
posted by Mitheral at 3:47 PM on February 2 [5 favorites]


I have two genuine, unused, like new Fallout Shelter signs, probably from the late 50's or early 60's, sitting in my windows, along with a Dead End sign. I want one of these to go with them.
posted by njohnson23 at 4:50 PM on February 2 [2 favorites]


"If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with them."
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 5:13 PM on February 2 [2 favorites]


IE highway signs are made of expensive stuff and lots of it.

You'd think so, but there's some guy in LA giving it away for free.
posted by stet at 9:12 PM on February 2 [3 favorites]


I have a copy of the latest MUTCD in my office. Sadly, it does not seem to have those signs anymore :-( Guess I'll need to have one made for my office.
posted by Oh_Bobloblaw at 11:40 AM on February 4


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