Map Signs.
—There seems to be a tendency toward map signs and the necessary large boards which they entail. It is the opinion of the writer that it would be better except for exceptional places to keep to as small a marker as can be seen readily. The sizes recommended by the International Road Congress are plenty large enough and probably could be decreased without impairing their utility. An ordinary sign is itself an unsightly thing, and after the campaigns that have been made against the advertising bill boards it seems hardly consistent for the state to put up almost equally unsightly disfigurements of the landscape.
In Maryland the direction signs between towns are 30 inches wide by 20 inches high and display in white letters on a black background the name of the road, the distance to and from important points, and all principal connections. Evidently “the wayfaring men though fools shall not err therein.” Other states are putting up similar signs. Illinois is using about the same size boards setting them for each turn in the road, each entering road, whether or not it comes in from one or both sides, each school and other places where special care should be taken. On a map attached to some of these signs is a point or star indicating the position of the sign on the road.
INTERNATIONAL ROAD CONGRESS WARNING SIGNS
WHITE ON BLACK BACKGROUND
WARNING SIGNS AS USED ON SOME AMERICAN ROADS
BLACK ON WHITE BACKGROUND
In addition to direction and distance signs Maryland erects large, 10 feet square, map signs at the limits of each of the larger towns. Upon this map is delineated the main routes through the town in white and the secondary routes in gray, the names of the streets and well-established landmarks, so that a person can make a decision of the route he wishes to take and follow it without difficulty. The color scheme is white letters on black background. They are oriented to read in the direction of travel so that if the signboard were pushed over ahead on its back the road would point in the direction of travel. On the map in red is a star with the words, “You are now at this point.”
On the top of mountain grades Maryland erects boards similar in size to the map boards, which state the number of miles down the mountain, indicate curves and give concise instructions how to drive down so as to avoid accident and personal injury. This is to assist inexperienced drivers and those unacquainted with the region by telling how to brake their cars by putting them into “high,” “intermediate,” and “low” at certain places, which, of course, will be very helpful, and may save an accident.
Where the state roads cross from Maryland into neighboring states a large sign 15 to 25 feet is erected on which is displayed the salient features of the state motor vehicle law. No one, therefore, need be ignorant of the law and thus unpleasantly encounter the state police. The contract price of these signs range from $12 for a single face direction sign to $347.50 for a state-line motor vehicle law sign. They are kept in repair by the contractor at prices ranging from $3.50 to $20 each per year.[231]