ALL CAPS? Not OK On Road Signs, Federal Government Says
USA TODAY
By Larry Copeland
October 21, 2010
CAN YOU READ THIS?
There, is that better?
In a nod to the fading eyesight of the nation's growing number of aging Baby Boomers, the federal government is requiring communities around the USA to change street name signs from all capital letters to a combination of capital and lowercase letters. The government says that makes them easier to read.
Cash-starved localities also will have to dig deep for new, more reflective traffic signs to make them easier to see at night, especially by older drivers.
Under Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regulations, communities have until 2015 to improve the nighttime visibility of roadside signs — such as stop, yield and railroad crossing signs. The issue is how well a sign redirects light from an automobile's headlights back toward the vehicle. Signs that fail to meet minimum standards must be replaced. Communities will be allowed to change the street name signs as they wear out.
The changes are called for in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, an 816-page (plus appendixes) behemoth that sets standards for traffic control devices — signs, signals and pavement markings.
"As drivers get older, we want to make sure they're able to read the signs," says FHWA administrator Victor Mendez. "Research shows that older drivers are better able to read signs when they're written in both capital and small letters. It's really driven by safety."
Despite that, the rule changes are not welcome in communities that have cut budgets to the quick.
"I think it's ridiculous," says Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan, whose city will spend about $1.4 million on new signs over the next four years. "Our street signs have worked perfectly well for 100 years or more. I think it's just the federal government run amok. If they don't have far more important things to deal with, they're not doing their job."
A gripe heard across the land: The government is providing no funds to make the change.
Iron Mountain, Mich., which has a population of 8,154 and a $6 million budget, will spend $30-$50 apiece replacing several hundred signs, says city manager Jordan Stanchina. "You're looking at all the other things you've got to cut, and now you've got to do this," he says.
Canyon, Texas, city manager Randy Criswell says the Texas Panhandle city of about 15,000 will replace 1,500-2,000 signs at a cost of about $100 apiece. "Do I think that's money that's spent as well as it could be? I sure don't," he says. "I've got parents that are getting elderly. They think this is silly."
Some cities such as Eau Claire, Wis., have already been gradually replacing signs as they wear out. Brian Amundson, the city's public works director, says replacing signs is "a good, worthwhile program. It really does make a difference." But he says, "It's just that in these difficult financial times, people don't like it shoved down their throat because they don't see the immediate value of it."
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It might be interesting to get the views or your parents and grandparents on this one and see how it compares to what you think!
ReplyDeleteShelby Leigh Hendon.(:
ReplyDeletePeriod 4.(:
Well, in my humble opinion, I believe, that if your old, and losing your eye sight, you shouldn't be on the road, in the first place. I think we should give more frequent eye tests, to make sure all the people on our roads, can be safe. This could benefit, all drivers, not just those with poor eye sight. It would make our roads much safer, and could possibly prevent many accidents from ever happening.
Please check your comments before posting! I had to reject 3 of the first 4 comments for major spelling errors!
ReplyDeleteI think what they are suggesting is really dumb. I think capital letters are easier to read than lower case letters, so why would we change them? We should replace old street signs, but we should keep writing them in all capital letters. My dad thinks that it is ridiculous because he is already struggling to read the street signs and now they want to make it smaller. In my opinion the letters should not be in lower case.
ReplyDeleteAJ Baath
ReplyDelete6th PD
I believe that it should not even matter about the letters on the sign, but the sign itself. When I think of a stop sign, I not only think of the word stop (DUH) but I also think of the color red and an octagon. The letters aren’t needed when you have a red octagon, which should be enough. The government should not even bother replacing all the signs; it’s a waste of money and manpower. Which is better, a plain white sign that says “Stop” or a plain red octagon. I chose the plain red octagon.
Amita Batra
ReplyDelete3rd Period
Personally, I agree with AJ about replacing all the signs. It is a total waste of money and there are so many other issues where this money can be used. In this time of rescession, they are trying to save money and doing budget cuts everywhere. Therefore, I feel like they should not consider changing the signs because of the capital letters.
3rd period
ReplyDeleteI think something is wrong if we are worrying about this. Some older people can see just fine. And by now they have enough driving experiance to know what sign is going to be in this position in the road. Also based on the color and shape of the sign can help you figure it out. If you really want to help older people fix the economy so they can retire already.
WAIT! HOW DO YOU TURN CAPS LOCK OFF?!?
ReplyDeleteJust kidding. But seriously, this is stupid. Lowercase letters are smaller, so wouldn't they be harder to read? I like AJ's solutions; just get rid of the darn letters. But the problem I find with that is that signs like the yield sign and the traffic light ahead sign; they are COMPLETELY THE SAME SHAPE AND COLOR! What do you do then? I believe that this should be left alone. One thing i see most people ignoring in their comments is the reflectivity issue. This is a little more serious, since a lot of crashes can happen because you don't see the sign. A cooler solution would be OLED (if you don't know what that is then look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_light-emitting_diode)signs. They can be printed cheaply and are very luminescent. Or a cooler idea would to have all the cars hooked up to a central computer system and then in stead of a sign it pops up on your window or dashboard. But thats probably too expensive for right now, but if not now, it will happen later. But my main point is that people have been driving for almost a century now, and there has been structured driving for almost 75 years and there hasn't been any major issues until now. Congress NEEDS to understand not everyone can afford this.
Andremarie Jean
ReplyDelete4th Period
First I want to say that if it is getting harder for you to see road signs then you should not be driving. Also that it is definitely a bad idea to spend so much money on things such as street signs when are economy is down. Plus the government is not going to help pay and it cost that much. What about the big cities that may have alot of street signs, that will cost them a grip. I can see if they want to replace them because maybe they have been there for a long time or some of the letters are chipping away, but because people aren't able to see all caps is outrages and not smart at all. Personaly for me reading things that have Lower and Upper case letters is difficult, because some lower case letters look the same from far back.
Charlene Sigua
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
I think that replacing all the signs is a big waste of money. This kind of money could be used for something the economy really needs. The signs here are already to small for me to read when I'm going somewhere. So what I think is that they should not change the signs.
The whole thing I believe is ridiculous, I think this has nothing to do with the vision of the impaired but the income for the government. You would think that street signs in ALL CAPS would be more visible to the elderly than any other kind of font. There will be a big fuss about this as we get closer to 2015; some regions aren’t just in the right conditions for such a condition. This is another problem the country will have to deal with in the future.
ReplyDeleteKiah R.
Cortney Corley
ReplyDelete4th period
Like many of the people above me said, I think that this whole issue is stupid. There's really no point in spending so much money on these signs. They were made in all caps for a reason, and changing them might make it harder for some people. If you can't read the signs, you shouldn't be on the road. Honestly, now it seems like people are thinking of the smallest issue and blowing it out of proportion.
This is one of the dumbest ideas ever. Do they think that the elderly will be able to read better if it says "StOp" or "STOP." Seriously, half capital and half lowercase is how some people type to have fun. But for old people's sake? Nope. I think if they actually care about old people, and think that the states have enough money to pay for something, then maybe it can go to something useful, like I don't know, the economy? The government can do whatever they want in Washington D.C. or the capital of each state, but they need to leave the other cities alone, or as they might want it AlONe.
ReplyDeleteJay Shah
6th period!
I believe that what the government is doing is right. They are thinking about the community and trying to make sure everyone is safe. It is true that elderly people have worse eyesight and researchers have already concluded that elderly people see better with both capital and lowercase letters. So for everyone who is saying that making it lowercase will be harder, the research has been done. The only thing I think the government should do is put some money into this to help cities out because we are in a bad economic state. I think the reason a lot of us disagree with this is because we are not driving yet and we do not know what it feels like to be driving old with poor eyesight.
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
ReplyDeleteHmM... DoEs tHiS MaKe tHiS SeNtEnCe aNy EaSiEr tO ReAd?
Actually I don't think so. Sure, make the signs brighter. Make them bigger. Get those chemical and material engineers to make up new things that the signs can be made of. However, I think that a combination of CAPS and lower letters will only make it worse. Yes, this may be helpful to old people, but it's pretty annoying to most of the other people. Also, some drivers of foreign countries have trouble reading signs as they are. With the letters changed, it will be harder to read the signs. Therefore, I think that all changes should be made except for changing the CAPS.
Alvin Mei
ReplyDelete2nd Period
Why are states getting mad just to help out the baby boomers by simply changing the street name signs? I mean come on; it's not that big of a deal. Of course changing a street name sign is quite expensive, but we are changing it for the people who helped shaped our economy. I agree with Josh Conner, I do not think that the combination of lower and upper case matters, because upper case words are much larger, and many people can see them clearer, but that does not mean that the states don’t have to change the signs. It’s ridiculous how cities are being so selfish to the baby boomers that are in need of things as critical as changing the street name signs. If cities don’t change the street name signs, there might be a little more accidents than usual.
WE obviously can’t push this now and not all at once. A gradual change could be used and just transition to new signs whenever the community can best afford it. To AJ and josh this has nothing to do with STOP signs the article is talking about street signs which have no unique shape or color. I’m not sure that both capital letters and lower case letters will make it easier to read but all I know is how difficult it is for my dad to read the signs.
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
ReplyDeleteI would like to see the proof as to how lowercase letters are easier to see than uppercase letters. Since the uppercase letters are bigger, does that not make them easier to read? Or maybe it’s simply because it's not SCREAMING AT YOU the way caps lock does. Many companies have ditched the caps lock in effort to look friendlier and less forceful as a means to attract customers.
http://blog.primecorporatedesign.com/?p=1.
But since this is for government purposes, this really isn't all that necessary, especially if it is going to cost a lot of people money that they do not have. Reflectivity, on the other hand, is a legitimate issue. Capital letters, not so much. Besides, when they report car crashes on the news I haven't heard anyone report the cause as "the driver couldn't read the sign because it was in caps", so I think it'll be fine the way it is.
@Joshua Conner
ReplyDeleteThank you for the source about the OLEDs, but it says in your source that currently, they are expensive to make. And changing to lower case helps reading because when in caps, people tend to look at the letters, not the word. Putting the signs in lower case makes it similar to how we read a sentence. This would be an expensive process to do all at once. Could cities just wait until a sign is worn out to replace with a lower cased ones. For cities down in Texas or Florida this would not be a problem because tons of signs are destroyed from things like hurricanes. I could not tell you how many street signs i picked up after hurricane Ike. And graffiti in general would be means to replace a sign. Oh, and just so you know, the yield sign is a white triangle and the traffic light ahead sign is a yellow square.
5th Period
ReplyDeleteWell I took Ms. Scales suggestion and asked my mom and my grandmother. Basically, they both had the same answer. Sure, the combination of lower and upper case letters would help with reading, but is it money well spent? Both my mom and my grandmother agreed. There are more things out there that need funding and changing letters on signs isn't one of them. A lot of people in general have a hard time reading signs at night, not just older people. My mom and grandmother both feel that maybe it is best to way the options for funding this type of project before going forward, and to see if there are other things that are more important than changing the sizes of letters on street signs.
Ryan Rodriguez
ReplyDeletePeriod 6
WOW!!! Why would anybody want to waste so much money just to change signs that they already have. The signs we have now have been up there for years and no major problem was caused by them. I know they are trying to be safe, but if they waste all of that money then they will have lots of financial problems. I don't think we would want everybody to have financial problems.
If a person's sight is failing, why are they driving in the first place? They are sometimes a hazard to normal people. To me, this seems a bit ridiculous. My dad agrees with Ann's dad, he said, "it is stupid because old people like me with diminishing sight already have trouble reading signs, making the letters smaller won't help." I completely agree, this is true. Also, this idea probably does not have much support because the government is not funding it. Maybe, if the fact that old people can see small letters was proven, and if the government paid for replacing street signs, people like my dad and I would agree with this idea more.
ReplyDeleteHow I feel about this topic is best said in the words of Alderman Bob Donovan, "I think it's ridiculous." Supposedly, this is to benefit the elderly. So why are they still continuing when the elderly "think this is silly". It's just a waste of money, better spent elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Thai
Period 5
If the government says that both capital and lowercase letters help elderly people see better, then must have some tests to prove that it works. The government only makes decisions for everyone’s safety. Having elderly people on the road these days can affect the younger ones driving. I believe that if it works for one person then it must be good.
ReplyDeletePeriod 6
ReplyDeleteLet's all be honest here, who doesn't know what a stop sign looks like? Every child by the age of six knows the red means stop and green means go. I doubt that changing signs will make a difference. It's more likely to waste money than help anyone. Let's use money on something more focused on needs rather than opinion of changing letters.
Ayoub Saber
ReplyDelete4th Period
I dont think they should change the sign, because it is all good and clear. I know that old people can't see the sign while driving. But, If you really want to change or do something, fix the economy first.
@Nick Brouwer
ReplyDeleteActually we are both wrong, the traffic light ahead sign is a yellow rhombus.
http://geography.about.com/library/photos/blzz147.htm (link to image)
But I don't know what yeild sign you are talking about but I'm talking about this one:
http://www.saferoadsdrivingschool.com/Portals/597/yield%20sign.jpg
But there are many different types of yield signs out there as well which does poke some holes in AJ's plan. And thanks for the info on how it's easier to read the sentence-like signs, I guess I should have done a little extra research. But as Lloyd said this isn't just about stop signs it's about how street signs are read. Once again this is when electronic street signs would be really awesome, but we don't live in an awesome world, so therefore we don't get awesome street signs.
@Lloyd Farley
Sorry if I confused you, when I was talking about signs I was talking about signs in general. Sorry to anyone else who was confused by my post.
Marissa Moss
ReplyDelete5th period
I don't know about the changing the size of the letters, but I think that making them easier to see at night would be a great idea. Many people, not just the visually impaired, have problems with seeing signs at night, and it causes many accidents. About what the man said about the government not doing their job. If the government did not pay attetion to the communities, and focused only on the war and polotics, then that would be them really not doing their job.
Well here’s the thing about the signs. First of all I think it’s really stupid (and yes I use the word stupid) to spend millions of dollars to replace the signs. I currently am studying to get my permit this fall. I’m required to read a “Driver’s Education” book. In this book it talks about how the signs have these reflectors that when you show light onto them at night, they reflect it and reveal the sign. A standard sign is shaped in a specific way ( for example a yield sign is triangle and a stop sign is a hexagon; a yield sign is not all capital letters and a stop sign is all capital letters). The way that this is, is because of the rules of the sign. When a sign says yield, it means to slow down so that the driver can look in all directions to see if there are any cars coming (you stop if there are cars coming) and then you go. It’s like a rolling stop except you don’t have to stop. You yield the right-of-way to other vehicles. A stop sign is more urgent and important. Basically you stop because there would be a lot of cars driving where the stop sign is and a yield sign probably isn’t enough. That’s why it’s in all capital letters. When it’s in all capital letters, it’s to catch the drivers attention. I think what should really happen is not put the words on the signs in a regular font size but put them all in capital letters. People don’t pay enough attention to the signs on the road to know what’s coming.
ReplyDeleteJoey Wright
6th period
That’s how a lot of accidents happen. If they do anything to the signs, they should make them bigger. And for “older” people, really there is no need. Trust me. A 80 year old man doesn’t have any business to be driving at 9 or 10 o’clock at night. To me this is just a waste of money. It’s ironic because it’s like healthcare. It might sound good but it’s really unethical.
I believe that this does not make sense at all. Why they are doing this? I think CAPITAL letters are easier to read from a distance because they get your attention faster. Also, if it is lowercase it would make it harder for the text to read for selected people. I think it would make better sense to increase the font they are using making the signs. This is because if they increase the size it would cause words to be more easily seen. Also, to make it is easier to see in the dark add more lights. This would make logical sense because some cities do not put enough lights on roads making it very hard sometimes to see if there is even a sign there.
ReplyDeleteKaylah Moore
ReplyDelete2ND Period
I don't think you should drive if you can't see in the first place; I mean get some glasses or contacts, and if that doesn't work then don't get behind the wheel. Like Tyler Powers, I think that they shouldn't worry about street signs; they are fine the way they currently are, in all capital letters. If they really wanted to improve sight at night, they would put more street lights. Or at least working ones, that's really what we need.
I agree with Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan this is ridiculous (yes I spelt it right). First of all, if we are redesigning these signs to help benefit the elderly, isn't this saying to the elderly that it’s okay for them to drive at night? Also personally, I don’t think that the elderly should be driving a lot, let alone at night. My mom, however, thinks that if the signs help get the job done, and then by all means do what needs to be done.
ReplyDeleteSean Kelly
ReplyDelete2nd Period
Reading some comments I dont understand why you think that the government is wrong! I believe that what the government is doing is right. All they are trying to do for the community is to make sure everyone is safe. I mean look researchers have already concluded that elderly people see better with both capital and lowercase letters. So people need to stop saying that making it lowercase will be harder, we all know that everyone can see.
Jenny Chang
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
I think that changing the signs to lowercase letters is a bad idea because they are even smaller than capital letters. If people find all capital letters hard to see, then lowercase letters would make it worse. I do agree for the signs to be more reflective, so drivers can see better at night. If switching to more reflective signs needs a large amount of money, they should still spend it. This would prevent many accidents on the roads.
Tyler Morris
ReplyDelete4th Period
I think that this will make the roads worse if anything. It makes letters smaller which makes it harder to read signs. If you cannot see then you need to fix it, because it is ridiculous to spend money on something as petty as this. If they must do this, do it as the signs need replacing.
Neethu George
ReplyDelete3rd period
I think that this plan is ridiculous. I say it's easier to read in all caps than in lower case letters. My dad thinks that it doesn't make a difference. He says that only the size of the font matters. If it's bigger font then it's easier to read. I agree with him on that, but I still think it's easier to read in all caps.
Katie Snyder period2
ReplyDeleteEvery four years, you must renew your driver’s license. In this process, you must take an extremely short and easy eye exam. I think that if the problem is allegedly bad eye sight, that we should give a more extensive eye exam. This would mean that more people would have it printed on their license that is required of them to wear corrective lenses when driving. Easy, and not a time consuming or expensive solution.
Ranaill Davis 5th period.
ReplyDeleteI'm young and from far away I believe I would have trouble reading in regular caps. I think they should not change the signs at all because everybody needs to be able to see and the only way that will be possible is if it's in all caps were it's easier to see.
I don't think that the we should replace the street signs, especially with the bad economy we have right now. Using that much money isn't the best idea and I don't think it's worth spending. There are so many things with better use that we can put that money to.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shelby, if you have trouble seeing you shouldn't be on the road at all.
I honestly think that this is absolutely absurd! I haven't heard anything about the size of letters on a sign effect people. I understand what they want to get across but the idea isn't great. The United States as a whole is already losing money. Putting up signs with a MIX of letters would be crazy. What is the point of putting up signs with capital and lowercase letters? If you really want to make the signs easier to read, wouldn't you put them in all capitals?That would be the smarter thing to do. Changing the signs would be like throwing money down the sewer.
ReplyDeleteI think that getting rid of all capital letters on street signs are a major waste of time, and money. If an older person can’t read the street signs, then they should either get a better prescription for their glasses or get off the road! America just so happens to be in a recession, if people haven’t noticed! We do not need any unneeded expenditures. We could spend the money on more resources on NASA and their experiments, which might just come in handy, and not on CHANGING THE LETTERS OF STREET SGINS TO LOWER CASE AND UPPER CASE. Is this what the American people have been reduced to? A bunch of people caring more for STREET SIGNS than the future of our nation? Frankly speaking, and no offense to old people, the younger generation just happens to be the more important generation here. The “prime time” of old people has passed and it’s time for the next generation to take its stand. As I have said before, if you cannot read the signs, then get glasses, or get off the road. I mean really, 1.4 MILLON dollars on STREET SIGNS? That money could go to paying off the major debt we are in! That money could fund research for finding a cure for breast cancer! That money could fund and support NASA! That money can go to the education of the American people! That money can help fund the necessities of the USA army! That money can help feed the homeless! There are millions of other ways this 1.4 MILLION dollars and it would take an awful lot of space to write them all. Money is not easy to come by, and must be spent carefully, and spending money on STREET SIGNS happens to not be a careful way of spending.
ReplyDeleteAman Gupte
ReplyDeletePeriod 6
First of all, I agree with Shelby Leigh Hendon who said that if you are old and can’t see well, then you should not be driving. Secondly, I think that replacing the signs should be done because it can help avoid accidents , and if there is research behind this, then it most likely can’t be wrong. Even though I say that replacing the signs is a good thing, I am really upset that the government does not provide funding for this. On the other hand though, I think that our tax dollars could be used to in a better way.
Nick Grieger
ReplyDelete2nd period
I believe that changing the sign before it is out of use it not very smart. If the people really want to change the letters, they should change them once the sign does not pass the test. Otherwise, this would be a waste of money. If someone cannot read the sign they should not be driving or the person should get glasses one of the two. As the person said in the article the street signs have worked for the past 100 years. Is there a problem that they do not work now?
To me, this topic was.... wow. Like seriously, first changing mascots, now changing street signs? If a person cannot read a street sign, then they might need glasses, because I can see the signs perfectly fine, and that's coming from me too. I think the street signs are fine the way they are, no one needs to change them. But that's just coming from me, they can change it if they want to. Personally, I couldn't care less if they changed it, but I think they don't have to. I mean, there are more troubles in our country, and changing street signs isn't that important.
ReplyDeleteI don't get why everyone is thinking that the government wants to make it lowercase. I government doesn't want it lowercase, they want it both capital AND lowercase. So TheY waNt iT lIKe tHis and apparently it is supposed to not tick drivers off, but make them safer.
ReplyDelete6Th PerIOd
JAy ShAh
Kaitlyn Trei
ReplyDeletePeriod 6
I don't think that they need to change the signs at all. If the signs are still in pretty good shape, I don't think that they need to make new ones just because a few people say that they can't read them. If the government is making people put up new signs i think that they should be gracious enough to pay for it themselves instead of wasting a city or state's money on something that they don't even need. They should use the money they have on something more important.
@Jay Shah
ReplyDeleteYour last comment makes as much sense as writing the words LiKe ThIs. The government wants them to change things like STOP to Stop And SPEED LIMIT to Speed Limit. Not every other letter becomes capital, they want things to become sentence-like. And once again if they want these changes they should pay.
Keelie Steinke
ReplyDelete5th Period
Is this really something that they are focusing on that much? In my opinion, if you can't read the signs, then you obviously shouldn’t be on the road. And plus, I Do NoT UNdeRstAnD HOw MAkinG ThE SiGns LoOK LiKE ThIs Is GoING to MAke AnYtHiNg BeTTeR. I mean, come on, if you’re an elderly then you have been on the road for quite some years now, so you know what the street signs look like. If you see a big red octagon, then after years of driving, they should know it means to stop. Changing streets signs in bulk just doesn’t make sense to me. Of course, when they are old and fading, or knocked down, then yeah they need changed. But for this reason, no. There are way more things right know that are more important.
Esteban Palacios
ReplyDelete6th period
Why is the goverment trying to change the letters on the signs? If they want to change the letters on the signs why not just take off all the words? If they really want to waste money why not just give it to an important program like the ARMY? I think the goverment just doesnt want to give money to important programs.
Anthony Chenevert
ReplyDelete11/4/10
I think that this is just ridiculous, because if there is someone who can not read the signs on the road obviously they shouldn't be driving. Wow, it like common sense to know if your able to see the road signs or not. A person should know if they can't see, it is called go get your eyes checked out. Also I agree with Keelie because elderly people know what they are they have been doing it for years. Enlargement of road signs could cause more bigger damaged.
I Think that...MaKiNg SIGnS loOk LiKe ThIs, is a Extreme waste of time and money. It's ridiculous that the economy is focusing on the stupidest things that no one really cares about. I agree with Katie
ReplyDeleteSnyder when she says that we should do more entinsive eye exams. People should get more exams if they think they have bad eyesight. We are wasting precious time and money on silly things like this when we could be working on COMPLRTRLY MORE IMPORTANT THINGS!
Carolyne Lu
ReplyDeletePeriod 3
My viewpoint on this matter is that it's kind of unnecessary. I'm glad that the government is trying to help us, the people, but unfortunately I think this is the wrong way. I agree with the many comments above about how there should be very few elderly driving around at night anyways but I disagree with Josh and Nick, however, because there is a reason for words- it is easier to distinguish something from another. Why spend so much money on something that will affect little when you can spend money on something that will affect many?
I think this all stupid. Making the signs in that weird way will cause even more confusion. For example, my grandpa drives and he can see the signs perfectly so if you change them to mAkE iT lOoK lIkE tHiS it will lead to even more trouble, not only to the elderly but to the younger people as well. Also there is no point in changing them because people can read them perfectly fine just the way they are. Its just a waste of time and money.
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
Saimol Edaparampil
ReplyDelete3rd Period
I also agree with many of the other comments on if you can't see what the sign says or what the streets name is, then don't drive until you get some glasses to see so that you can drive without having the country change signs and all those stuffs for just a simple problem. That will be the best for everyone. But on the other hand, this may be a good thing to do later on when we are not in a situation where money is a problem. Also, I don't understand why people can reader non-capitalized letters better that capitalized letters. Capitalized letters are bigger therefore it should be more readable than the lowercase ones.
Personally, I agree with Donovan who states that it is basically absurd, because when problems are arising that are far more important, why waste money on something that does not even cause major problems? It is reasonable, however, to replace broken or worn out street signs with the new design considering they would need to be replaced either way, but replacing ALL is insane. That is a waste of money and time that we do not have enough of.
ReplyDeleteThe government is being ridiculous. I mean we are already in recession, and now they want us to spend excessive amounts of money on road signs. That makes so much sense. It is really frustrating and irritating to see that this is what our government is suggesting. My parents also think it is an unnecessary waste of money and effort.
ReplyDeletePrerna Kamnani
4th Period
Mishi Jain
ReplyDelete2nd period.
I agree with the many people above me. The government is being completely absurd and ridiculous. Why should be waste our money when we can spend it on many more important things? I think it's crazy that we are even thinking about spending 1.4 million on STREET SIGNS. That is plain crazy. We have so many more important things to spend it on such as education for unprivileged children, or to help reduce our national debt. There are so many things I can't even list them all.
I feel that the sign CAPITOL letters are easier to read than the lowercase letters. It would make sense that the elderly would be able to read CAPITOL letters easier than lowercase, or even the combination they're talking about. Changing the signs to lowercase is not worth the expenses. The only reason you should change the signs or replace them is if they have worn out.
ReplyDeleteWhen I told my mom about this she said, “That’s stupid.” When I told my grandmother about this, she said, “That’s dumb.” When I told my Aunt Ronnie, she said, “That is ridiculous.” Not only is changing the road signs a WASTE of taxpayer money, but it is NOT the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S job to change things on the municipal level. The federal government is overstepping its constitutional boundaries.
ReplyDeleteLillian Cancino
ReplyDelete3rd Period
I agree with Sean about the government being right for trying to help make it safer, but why now? Why do they decide to Improve the visibility of the signs now that the economy is in a bad position. If they wanted to really help, they would have thought about it earlier. I do think it will help if the signs are in both capital and lower case letters. It is just naturally better to see because people are used to seeing many things written in that way. I also agree with Chaz, when he was saying that improving the signs gives elderly people the "ok" on driving at night. I think that they shouldn't be driving at night if they can't see well enought to read simple road signs. Overall I think that the government should wait untill the economy gets better, and then people would want to spend money on the road signs. At the moment they don't want to spend money on this because they don't have the money to spend.
Jerry George
ReplyDelete3rd Period
Well, the government is not necessarily ridiculous, if you really think about it. All this things about "replacing old signs" is another way the federal government is trying to earn some money through the states' trouble. These schemes have been done before, and they're back for more. And to make things worse, the country feels like it is going to crumble, and street signs are not the top priority on everyone's mind now. Signs in general have worked, and eventually will be replaced. But come on, even with LEDs on signs, not to say Josh's idea is faulty, won't prevent accidents from occurring. It's mental awareness, that's all that matters, just as Joey Wright said, since that is what creates accidents in the first place. You may not even need signs to know what you are driving into, but the majority of our national population relies on the basis of understanding signs to prepare ourselves for danger. Other things like trackers and LEDs are nice touches to ensure safety, but in regards to cost and how abusive that can be to our rights (remember the article on trackers being placed on everyone's car), the need for these things along with replacing signs is deemed unnecessary, for now.
Jade Martin
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
The government is always suggesting things that don't always make much sense. There is no reason to spend money on signs that can be easily read whether upper case or lower case. If the street signs haven't caused any problems in the past, then why change them now? I think that the only street signs that should be replaced are the ones that can not be easily read or the ones that are getting really old and worn out.
This is a blatant waste of money. First of all, the street signs are fine just the way they are. Making the letters lowercase is going to make a negligible difference. If the elderly have trouble seeing, they should go see an optometrist, not force America to spend millions on unnecessary changes.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the issue is very strange but also very understandable. If this is honestly going to make our road safer then the government should follow through with the plan. The government spends a lot of money on things that don't really help us that much and if this is going to improve safety then good for them. This will also have a good long lasting effect because the signs will stay that way and will keep us safer all the time. The baby boomers will fade but there still will be plenty of elderly people that will need this extra help when driving.
ReplyDelete4th Period
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shelby that if you're having trouble reading the signs that are already up, you shouldn't be driving anyway. To add to that, I've been driven around several times by an elder woman, and not once has she complained about the road signs. Also I think there are way more important things that this money could be spent on. This is ridiculous and I can't believe they wasted time even thinking about this. They have proof to show that the signs are better, but what percentage of accidents are caused because an elder person can't read the signs?
Sarah Raines
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
I find the entire issue rather ridiculous. For one thing capital letters on street signs make certain letters more recognizable. It is much easier to tell apart a capital “G” and a capital “Y” from a lower case “y” and “g”. Another thing is, it’s no big deal if you miss-read a sign, because you just turn the car around and go back. I do think it’s important to repair the signs that are no longer visible though. Sometimes when you are driving you see the old faded stop signs. Chances are you probably can’t see it very well at night time. This of course is very dangerous.
Kyne Onyenze
ReplyDelete3rd Period
Why would the government proclaim this? First of all, that’s a waste of money trying to change ALL street signs in the U.S. That just means the taxes on the U.S. citizens will be higher and we all know the we, the citizens of America (especially our parents), don’t want our taxes to be higher. They should just have a rule saying that at a certain age you shouldn’t be able to drive since they already have an age limit on when you CAN start driving. Also they should have vision tests to make sure that accidents on the roads are less likely to happen because of vision.
Riquerra Broadnax (Period 5)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Milwaukee why are we spending millions of dollars on this? We could be using that money to buy or supply food for homeless shelters or orphanages or something more important than street signs. I disagree on one thing about Milwaukee though, this is a problem but it shouldn’t be as important as the other things in the world that needs the money much more than a street sign!
Well in a non offensive way if this is ridiculous. If your too old to see the signs then you shouldn't even be driving. I mean that would make the roads so much safer and reduce the rate of car accidents. Also, i thought we were trying to get out of a recession? If we have to redo every single sign in the U.S. don't you think that will be costly? I think our government should be much more focused on other things in our country.
ReplyDeleteThe premise is nice, but the practicality of the whole thing just reeks waste of money. In a deficit like this, not many taxpayers can afford something like this. Yes, people need to be able to see these signs. But at the same time, how many people have we heard of crash just because the font wasn't readable? We as a country need to leave behind our whiny, "oh, I'm uncomfortable with this so I'll complain" mentality to a more, "I understand the problems this may or may not have, but I will stick to a viable, sensical option". Plus, wouldn't all caps make it easier?
ReplyDeleteSean Nelson
ReplyDelete3rd Period
I think that this is ridiculous. The government is just being absurd. Street signs have been fine forever, so I don't see why they wouldn't be any different. And traffic lights. You can see those things from a half mile away. They are very bright and people have no problem seeing them, especially when they're right under them. If they make them any brighter than they are going to hurt people's eyes at night. Even though the government is just trying to make it easier on us, this is just a stupid waste of money that us unneeded, especially now.
Samantha Twardowski
ReplyDelete3rd period
I honestly think that if the signs have been perfectly fine for the past 100 years, then what is the issue? I understand if there is a sign worn down and you can't read the letters to change it, but to spend $1.4 million dollars on this is very silly. America is in very deep debt right now and it is ridiculous to spend money on this when there hasve not been issues before. I also don't understand the big difference between all caps and lower case. Especially since there are only a few words on a sign, I might understand better if it was a sign with a lot of words but, one or two words will not make a difference.
My parents and I think the spending of $100 a pop for street signs is appalling. Our country is in a recession and a combination of lower and capital letters LiKe ThIs is more difficult to read. Plus the government could at least experiment with this idea and change the worn street signs before spending money on something not so controversial. I also agree with Carolyne because first of all there aren't many elderly drivers and the changing of the signs would be more confusing for the general drivers considering they do make a bigger impact. If they have bad eye sight, they should get their eyes checked because this idea is absurd!
ReplyDeleteKenneth Pranoto 2 Period
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is that capitalize letters are safer on the highway. It shows where the signs are, and are easy to spot the exact location. In addition, I agree on Shelby that we should have more frequent eye checks for people. Although that will help I think caps letters catches our eye on the eyes more frequent.
Erica Barrera
ReplyDelete5th period
I don't believe they should change the signs because the government needs that money for other things. The signs are perfectly fine. They can still be used a couple more years.
K'Vonna Johnson
ReplyDelete5th period
In my opinion spending money to replace the signs would be a waste of time. They should've thought about this when they first put them up. This is another reason for our economy suffering from this depression.It's a good thought but its a waste of time and money at the same time. Also if elderly people are on the road and have i hard time seeing even with glasses they should not be driving. It's as simple as that.
Emily Panozzo
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
Replacing all of the signs that aren't "suitable enough" for people with limited eye sight is not at the top of my list. Yes, I'm not on the road yet but the people that I do know that drive on the road are more than capable of looking at a street sign and reading it clearly. Just like Shelby said, if someone can't see the sign then they shouldn't be on the road anyways. Another point is that the money our government will spend for this replacement of signs can go to much more important things. A sign has color and bold, large text, that is more than enough and if the government fails to realize that then the people are going to have to pay for something that is not an absolute necessity.
Their suggestion does not make any sense to me. Well older street boards must be changed but using lower case letters will make it extremely hard for people with weak eye sight to see boards. My grandfather cannot even read out of the boards written in Capital letters, in that case how will he read smaller case letters from a distance? This is not just my grandfather. There are other older people on the roads driving even at night. This might cause accidents and wrong route selection. I would recommend that capital letters stay on street boards as it is now.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a mistake because while when you get close enough to read it the sign will be easier on the eyes, You won't be able to read it until you are close to it. They need to change the shape of the signs not the words. I think they need to get rid of words all together and maybe put the signs different colors. I would have this be mandatory for a community with a certain percentage of senior people living there. If all the people living there are under 40 then it's a waste of money that could have gone to better things. Though one reason the government isn't changing the signs because people wouldn't be used to them causing a few wrecks.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Haines Period 2
Samantha Martin
ReplyDelete4th period
This is ridiculous. There are far more important things happening now that need our attention. First of all, if you can't see you should't be driving. Second of all, this is a big waste of time and money. Why does the government have to pick at the little issues instead of focusing on the big picture of what's really important?
I was with my mom yesterday and we were using directions to get somewhere. She could tell what color the light was and where the stop signs were, but needed her glasses to read street signs. If you can't see, then either you get glasses like my mom,or don't drive. It's that simple. The government doesn't nedd to waste money on something that isn't that imporatant. Personally, I think all caps are EASIER TO READ.
ReplyDeleteI think that while all this a very good idea it's a waste of money and time. If even the elderlies think this is silly then why do we care? Really people? Let's stick to the bigger issues like modern slavery, sexual assualts that happen everyday. You know? The more life threatning issues. When that's more of a concern then come talk to me.
ReplyDeleteAlex Stanciel
ReplyDelete3rd period. =]
Ok. This seems really silly. Well to me at least. Some might say, its silly to me because I am young and I have perfect vision, but I talked to my grandpa and he said that he likes things to be in big bold letters so I is easier to make out. Although he has wonderful (almost perfect) eyesight I think that having bold letters is logical. If you had to read a story that was in all caps and the letters are bolded, or a story where the letters are small and have regular font, witch one would you choose. I defiantly would choose the one with the big bold letters. Its easy t ready and it will probably be a shorter story. If they have road signs that are like regular words, then no one will pay as much attention as to the one with the bold letters. Bold= better. Small= silly.
Dane Gantt
ReplyDeletePeriod 2
I think that this is very stupid. Why change road signs for the elderly when they shouldn't be on the road anyway? If they get to the point where they begin to say "Wow I can't read that sign" then they should stop driving. They're just putting every other driver out there in danger.
5th period
ReplyDeleteThis is so stupid. There is no need to waste money on perfectly good street signs. I personally think all CAPS are easier to read then no caps. If they change the street sigh to some capital and some not it would make it harder to read I think. If they really have to change to sighs they should wait until the sighs need replacing. And if they are having trouble reading the sighs they shouldn’t do driving or need to get some glasses.
Marcus Levine
ReplyDelete4ht period
I think that changinhg street signs when they were out is the best idea. If the government is not going to help, it will cost to much money to replace. However, making the streets and major road signs more reflective is a good idea. This not only helps the old people, it helps everybody. If this is something that can save a life, that is good. I don't want to know of someone who dies because street sighns were not upgraded as needed.
Jae Phan
ReplyDelete4 Pd
If making lower case letters on road signs stops a large enough percentage of car crashes and traffic country-wide, it would not be a waste of money. If it doesn't, the U.S. would have wasted money on something that is just a convenience and not a priority.
Aileen Nguyen
ReplyDeletePeriod 3
I agree with Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan when he says that the alteration of the signs is ridiculous. Why spend money on this if the signs are workng perfectly already? The cost would be way too high (it even says so in the article) and the money will practically be wasted. On the other hand, I do think that making the signs more visible at night will be helpful.
This really makes no sense. Why in the world would the government make us spend money on street signs? Come on now. The big red sign means stop. How much more obvious can this be
ReplyDelete-> STOP. I mean really? My grandma can see the sign and my mom and dad can see the sign so why do they need to be changed. I even asked my friends parents all all of them said that they can see the sign. Got to love the United States government. This is just plain stupid.
Victoria Hackney
ReplyDelete2nd Period
Wow is the first thought that I had after reading this article. It really seems stupid to me. I mean seriously how is changing STOP to Stop going to affect hardly anything? Saying that it is going to be more like a sentence, and that changing the signs is going to help older people to see it better are not valid reasons to be spending a lot of money on something. The issue of signs not reflecting properly are night is an issue and those signs should be changed, but why should perfectly good signs be switched out is the "street signs have worked perfectly well for 100 years or more"? I really just find this whole issue to be stupid, especially when we are going through financial hard times as a country.
Merin Mathew
ReplyDeleteperiod 6
For my honest opinion, I think the government should care about other major problems. I think it is a waste of money to replace all the signs in American just for old people. They shouldn't be driving on the streets anyway, not to be mean. But making the signs bright and more visible at night would be helpful then just making the letter lowercase. I guess it is the government’s weird way of trying to help us out but it is really not necessary. There are probably going to be more problems that lie ahead of us, so there is no point for wasting money in remaking the signs.
If you are having problems seeing or is losing your eye sight, then you really shouldn't be on the road. It makes no since to spend all that money on something that is not going to be worth it. I think it's best to not drive at all if you have bad eyes.
ReplyDelete-Justin Johnson
6 period
Bailey Banks
ReplyDelete6th period
Seeing letters in all caps on street signs should be easier but I guess not, I agree with Andremarie, if it is hard for you to read these signs then you definitely should not be on the road. I don't think that these signs are a big enough issue for cities to spend millions of dollars on; there are bigger problems within a city. If someone can't clearly read what a sign is saying then they should be able to recognize it by its color or shape.
Dylan Allotta
ReplyDelete5th
This is a silly thing to do. For once you think the government would have something better to do rather than thinking of new things for states and cities to spend money on when there is already a lack of it. The only way I would be for it was if there was going to be less accidents and less people killed because of it. Otherwise, it's just a waste of money as I see it.
Jeffrey Jhingree
ReplyDelete4th period
I think that it is a total waste of money to replace the signs. If you can't see and are old, then what are you doing driving on the road? They should only replace the signs only if it is hard to read. Even if they replace the stop, caution, and yield sign, drivers still have to pay attention to the road and not be texting while driving.
Chris Bready
ReplyDelete6th period
This is really sad of what the U.S. has come down to. Whether or not to give street signs capital letters or lower case letters shouldn’t be what we are focusing on. In my opinion they wouldn't make a difference. Even though I can't drive yet, I've been in a car for three hours straight plenty of times, and it doesn't distract me.
Francescha Rundle
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
The replacement of perfectly good signs is a waste of money and people's time. Signs have worked ever since they were invented and also, I don't see any problem with capital or lower case letters. I honestly don't care for this. It is dumb to spend money on people(I am sorry if this offends anyone) who are not going to live much longer. Another reason, old people are NOT supposed to drive anyway!It is absolutely ridiculous that people are actually considering spending so much money on signs in such difficult times!
Nico Alba
ReplyDeletePeriod 2
I don't know about the changing the size of the letters, but I think that making them easier to see at night would be a great idea. Many people, not just the visually impaired, have problems with seeing signs at night, and it causes many accidents. About what the man said about the government not doing their job. If the government did not pay attetion to the communities, and focused only on the war and polotics, then that would be them really not doing their job.
I think making new signs is a big waste of time and money. That money could be used for something that's really important. I mean if you can't see thats what glasses are for. It could help some people but it's just not a big enough issue to worry about.
ReplyDeleteDeara Mayo
5th period
Sarah Raines
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
I think it’s ridiculous that they think changing the signs in this way will make things better. Personally I don’t see a problem with the signs right now. Maybe the ones that are faded to the point of no visibility, like the old stop sign you might see here and there. But there is no reason why changing the lettering on these signs would make it easier to read. If you miss a sign then turn around and go back. Nobody should spend so much money on something that shouldn’t even be bothered with.
I agree with all the people who think this whole issue is stupid. If you can't read all the UPPERCASE signs on the road, then you shouldn't be on it. Putting them in lowecase might be even harder to read for some people. So I think that if they change the lettering of the signs, it will be one big waste of money.
ReplyDeleteNina Tames
3rd Period
Lynn Robinson
ReplyDelete3rd period
They are saying that signs would be easier to see if they were a combination of lower and upper case letters. If I saw a sign ThAt WAs WrItEn LikE THiS, I would seriously go crazy. It doesn’t make any sense to me, and if your eye sight isn’t good you probably shouldn’t be driving at all. Therefore, this seems like a waste of precious money.
Matthew Louis
ReplyDelete6th
I agree with Aileen Nguyen, Changing the signs would be a waste of money. What happened to the huge national debt? The money spent on the signs could be used for something else rather than new signs. When the many crimes that are going on everyday cease to exist and the national debt is reduced, then we should think about getting new signs. Until then the signs we have can still be used until they are damaged and seriously need replacing.
Travis Crissman
ReplyDelete2nd period
I strongly believe that this is a waste of money and time. Many communities are facing hard times right now and don’t have the money to buy new signs. I am also not convinced that simply changing the letters to upper and lowercase can make enough of a difference to justify the cost. My main issue, which was mentioned in the article, is why is the government suddenly making this a priority when older Americans haven't had problems reading or seeing the signs before. I believe there are many more worthwhile ways that a city can spend money as opposed to purchasing new signs.
Jaison Mathew
ReplyDelete4th Period
I think this is a pretty good way to waste our money right when we probably need it the most. Whats the point of changing all these signs? I've never heard of anyone complaining about not being able to see the street names. If you can't see them in the first place, why are you still driving? OK, sure, change those signs that are faded or damaged. But why change all of the signs?
Tell me which one is easier to read.
DoNt ChAnGe ThE sIgNs!
OR
DONT CHANGE THE SIGNS!
I think it's pretty clear that this is a total waste of time, money, and materials.
Well in a non-offensive way, this is ridiculous. If you’re too old to see the signs then you shouldn't even be driving. I mean that would make the roads so much safer and reduce the rate of car accidents. Also, I thought we were trying to get out of a recession? If we have to redo every single sign in the U.S., don't you think that will be costly? I think our government should be much more focused on other things in our country.
ReplyDelete2nd Period
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's that necessary to go on and change the signs. It's pretty simple if you think about it. If you know you can't read the signs, don't bother being on the road too often, or even better yes, just go out and get yourself a pair of glasses. The government should be paying attention to a lot more serious things.
It is pointless to change the signs because once it looks like ThIs, it is only going to cause confusion. To change all the signs for $100 is also appalling considering there not worn. However, more reflective lights at night would be beneficial.Frankly, if people are not able to read the signs that are as clear as day they should get off the road or get some contacts.
ReplyDeleteCapital letters are easier to read than lower case letters, so why would we change them? We should change old street signs, but we should keep writing them in all capital letters. In my opinion the letters should not be in lower case but it doesn't really matter.
ReplyDeleteSteffie Philip
Period-6th
The government should give less importance to such minute topics like writing style on a street board. I don’t see any reason to change the font to lower case right now. Changing it to lower case letters might not cause problems but on the hand will it be beneficial enough to cover up the importance given to it? Silly matters need not be discussed longer than a set amount of time. According to me, lower case letters should not be used on street boards and symbols.
ReplyDeleteErvin Ricasio
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
I think that people should start getting eye check up’s more often because many people have been having accidents due to eye sight. You really shouldn’t be on the road if you can’t see. My parents can see street signs perfectly, but the other people that have a hard time looking at the signs, should go to an eye doctor as soon as possible. I really think that they shouldn’t replace the street signs. If they can’t see it, then they need to go get glasses or contacts. I believe that some shapes symbolize a sign. It’s just a waste of money to replace everything, plus there would be more construction and that will cause traffic to form.
Logan Gloster
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
I don't think it's really necessary to change all of the signs in the United States. It's just a waste of money and time. People should be worrying about more important things such as our unstable economy and even relations with foreign countries. I just honestly don't see the problem with the signs we have now. They have been working as far as people can tell and making the font larger on them is not going to do much.
Raphael Laran
ReplyDelete5th Period
Wow... I am surprised that people are actually arguing about this. I think it is a bad and good idea. I can agree that when people grow older, they can see it better, but you don't need to make it all capital letters, just make the words (font) bigger. I think they should focus on something more important than words on a sign, it is important for drivers to see, but I agree with every person who commented on this, just get glasses or new glasses.
Joel Simon
ReplyDelete4th period
I think it is a waste of time and money to change all the signs. If people have trouble reading the signs they shouldn’t even be driving or they should get glasses. We could be using this money for more important things. We shouldn’t be spending money recklessly in this recession.
Grace Bonojo
ReplyDelete4th period
I read something better when it's in all caps not in regular print. You know how you go to the eye doctor and they make you read the all capital prints at the bottom? Why do they do that? Well because it's easier to read! So why change signs from easy to read to something harder to read? It really makes no sense to argue the point about Senior citizens not being able to read signs. I agree with my classmates that it's easier to remember a sign by its shape and color than by the words.
I think it's ridiculous that they're worrying about signs in this economy. We need the money they're trying to get the city to spend on signs for other things. We're in a recession and we need every cent we have to survive in this economy.