Thursday, August 16, 2007

Wanna Save Fuel? Don't Get Lost! Read the Signs!

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To minimize fuel use in any vehicle we have got to know where we are going!

Some of us - guys - like to trust our prehistoric tracking and memory skills and NOT look at maps or ask for directions. This doesn't always work anymore. Once in a while, maybe. Not enough to make anyone confident.

To help us along, the NYTimes has a story (The Road to Clarity by Joshua Jaffe) in its Sunday magazine. Seems the legibility of the signs on the Interstate Highway System can be improved. The words may make sense but if we can't quite see them or them soon enough we become . . .lost, misdirected, disoriented, etc. The current font, which looks pretty clear to me, is called Highway Gothic. The new font, scientifically developed and tested and proven to be clearer is called Clearview. The differences appear imperceptible when viewed side by side but the distances when Clearview signs become readable are greater (in the photo, the Clearview Font on the right).

Also, it doesn't hurt to check a map before you go, or Mapquest or use that new-fangled navigation system (if you can afford it). Did you know that system was first developed for nuclear weapons targeting?

Finally, you should check if the bridge or highway or street you are depending on being there is still there. That no bridge failure, highway/street sinkhole or watermain break hasn't appeared. Apparently, due to lack of maintenance of our infrastructure, that probability is going to increase over time.

Related:

[Source: New York Times]

 

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