Federal Government Places a Ban on Humor

C.G. Hoffman

Looking for a little laugh on the highway? Fuhgeddaboutit! New federal regulations aim to ban humorous electronic highway signs, saying that they are a distraction to drivers and make the nation’s highways less safe.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has given states two years to implement changes to the way electronic highway signs may be displayed. Any signs that are humorous, quirky, or that contain pop culture references have been given the axe, with officials saying they can be misunderstood and may be a distraction to drivers.

The new rules, to be implemented by 2026, state that signs should be “simple, direct, brief, legible and clear” and should only display information that is important, such as warning drivers about inclement weather, collisions, and traffic delays.

Among those that will be disappearing are messages such as “Use Yah Blinkah” in Massachusetts; “Visiting in-laws? Slow down, get there late,” from Ohio; “Hocus pocus, drive with focus” from New Jersey; and “Hands on the wheel, not your meal” from Arizona.