DELAWARE — Delaware's entertaining and witty road signs might be under threat as new guidelines from the US Federal Highway Administration tighten restrictions on the use of jokes on traffic control devices.
DelDOT has gained praise in recent years for its humorous and informative road signs, featuring messages like 'Baby Yoda uses a car seat,' 'Slow down, this isn't the Monster Mile,' or the classic Seinfeld reference 'No soup for you!'
Under new federal guidelines, signs cannot attempt humor or incorporate pop culture references. Instead, federal recommendations emphasize that messages should be "simple, direct, brief, legible, and clear." States have until 2026 to adjust.
But DelDOT doesn't seem to be backing down in response to the federal guidelines, C.R McLeod, DelDOT's director of community relations, told WBOC,
"DelDOT does not expect the new federal guidelines to impact our current use of safety-themed messaging that we utilize across the state and continues to receive overwhelming positive feedback from the public."
Some drivers like Sandra Ames say the signs are a bright spot on long drives, and long days,
“The world is always sad, people are down sometimes, maybe those signs and slogans you see on the side of the road might brighten someone’s day up,” said Ames.
Another driver, Lana Marsche said she can't see how it would be a good decision,
“I think they’re absolutely helping drivers, it’s not monotonous it’s always something different – it’s more of a welcome, it’s welcome to Delaware, welcome to The Eastern Shore.” said Marsche