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The U.S. adoption of several Vienna Convention-inspired symbol signs during the 1970s was a failure. For example, the lane drop symbol sign was criticized as baffling to U.S. drivers—who saw a "big milk bottle"—and therefore quite dangerous, since by definition it was supposed to be used in situations where drivers were about to run out of road and needed to merge into another lane immediately.<ref name="Conniff">{{cite news |last1 = Conniff |first1 = James C.G. |title = Danger: Signs Ahead |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1975/03/30/archives/danger-signs-ahead-misleading-highway-signs-raise-blood-pressure.html |access-date = August 19, 2020 |work = The New York Times |date = March 30, 1975 |page = 183 }}</ref> American highway safety experts ridiculed it as the "Rain Ahead" sign.<ref name="Conniff" /> Many American motorists were bewildered by the Vienna Convention's symbol sign with two children on it, requiring it to be supplemented with a "School Xing" plaque.<ref name="Hazlett">{{cite news |last1 = Hazlett |first1 = Bill |title = Some Confusing: Wordless Traffic Signs Popping Up |work = Los Angeles Times |date = March 23, 1972 |page = E1 }}</ref> (The American "School Xing" symbol was later redesigned to depict an adult crossing together with a child.) The 1971 MUTCD's preference for a rapid transition to symbols over words quietly disappeared in the 1978 MUTCD.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = American Association of State Highway Officials |last2 = National Joint Committee on Traffic Control Devices |title = Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways |date = 1978 |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |___location = Washington, DC |page = 2A-6 |chapter = Section 2A-13, Symbols }}</ref> The 2000 and 2003 MUTCDs each eliminated a symbol sign that had long been intended to replace a word message sign: "Pavement Ends" (in 2000) and "Narrow Bridge" (in 2003).<ref name="2003Rev1Intro">{{cite book |last1 = American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials |last2 = National Joint Committee on Traffic Control Devices |title = Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways |date = 2003 |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |___location = Washington, DC |url = https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/HTM/2003r1/intro/intro.htm |access-date = August 26, 2020 |chapter = Introduction }}</ref>
[[File:Difference between 2003 MUTCD and 2009 MUTCD Advance Guide Signs.png|thumb|The left guide sign is from the 2003 MUTCD, and the right sign is from the 2009 MUTCD.]]
On January 2, 2008, FHWA published a Notice of Proposed Amendment in the [[Federal Register]] containing a proposal for a new edition of the MUTCD, and published the draft content of this new edition on the MUTCD website for public review and comment. Comments were accepted until the end of July 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=FHWA-2007-28977 |publisher = Regulations.gov |title = Public Comments on new MUTCD |id = docket FHWA-2007-28977 }}</ref> The new edition was published in 2009. Revisions to the 2009 edition were then published in 2012.<ref name="2012revisions">{{cite web |last1 = American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials |last2 = National Joint Committee on Traffic Control Devices |title = Change List for Revision Numbers 1 and 2, Dated May 2012, to the 2009 Edition of the MUTCD |year = 2012 |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |___location = Washington, DC |url = https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009r1r2/mutcd2009r1r2cl.htm |access-date = May 9, 2021 }}</ref>
The 11thtenth edition of the MUTCD was published in 2009, with revisions in 2012.<ref name="2012revisions">{{cite web |last1 = American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials |last2 = National Joint Committee on Traffic Control Devices |title = Change List for Revision Numbers 1 and 2, Dated May 2012, to the 2009 Edition of the MUTCD |year = 2012 |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |___location = Washington, DC |url = https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009r1r2/mutcd2009r1r2cl.htm |access-date = May 9, 2021 }}</ref> The [[Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act]] of 2021 requires the USDOT to update the MUTCD quadrennially,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/mutcd11status.htm |title=Status of Rulemaking for the Eleventh Edition of the MUTCD |date=March 2, 2022 |access-date=March 2, 2023 |publisher=Federal Highway Administration}}</ref> and the eleventh edition was released in 2023.<ref name="Woodhouse">{{cite news |last1=Woodhouse |first1=Skylar |title=Rules of the Road Get a Long-Awaited Update in the US |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-19/us-roadbuilding-bible-gets-update-as-pedestrian-deaths-rise |access-date=December 20, 2023 |work=Bloomberg |date=December 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/fhwa-releases-new-traffic-control-device-manual-updates-improve-safety-pedestrians |title=FHWA Releases New Traffic Control Device Manual with Updates to Improve Safety for Pedestrians, Bicyclists, and All Road Users |date=December 19, 2023 |access-date=December 27, 2023 |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation}}</ref> This edition allows painted red bus lanes, rules allowing more crosswalks and traffic signals, new rules for determining speed limits, signage for shoulders that are used part-time as traffic lanes, and new signage for [[electric vehicle charging station]]s and [[autonomous vehicle]]s.<ref name="2023_revision_final" /> It also adds painted green bike lanes, bike boxes, and bike-specific traffic lights. Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) were also added to the MUTCD; a pedestrian beacon for uncontrolled intersections consisting of two rectangular lights, side-by-side, which alternate flashing, under a yellow diamond with a walking person on it, above an arrow pointing out the crosswalk.<ref name="2023_revision_final">[https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2023-27178.pdf RIN 2125-AF85 National Standards for Traffic Control Devices; the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways; Revision], III. Summary of the Major Provisions of the Regulatory Action in Question</ref> RRFBs were previously on interim approval by the FHWA since March 20, 2018.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=January 12, 2024 |title=Interim Approval 21 – Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacons at Crosswalks - Interim Approvals Issued by FHWA |url=https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/interim_approval/ia21/index.htm |website=MUTCD |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |date=March 20, 2018}}</ref> Transportation safety advocates criticized the changes as not going far enough to deal with a substantial spike in pedestrian fatalities, especially guidance setting speed limits [[85th percentile speed|based on the 85th percentile of actual driving speeds]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/12/31/1222174861/road-street-design-traffic-mutcd |title=The rules of the road are changing, but not fast enough for everyone |date=December 31, 2023 |author=Joel Rose}}</ref><ref>[https://t4america.org/2023/12/20/press-statement-newly-updated-mutcd-doesnt-go-far-enough-to-protect-pedestrians/ Press statement: Newly updated MUTCD doesn’t go far enough to protect pedestrians]</ref><ref>[https://usa.streetsblog.org/2023/12/19/feds-advocates-talk-about-whats-in-the-new-mutcd-and-what-isnt Feds, Advocates Talk About What’s In The New MUTCD (And What Isn’t)!]</ref> ▼On December 14, 2020, FHWA published a notice of proposed amendment in the [[Federal Register]] containing a proposal for an 11th edition of the MUTCD, publishing the draft content of this new edition online for public review and comment until March 15, 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title = National Standards for Traffic Control Devices; the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways; Revision |work = Federal Register |date = December 14, 2020 |access-date = January 11, 2021 |url = https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/12/14/2020-26789/national-standards-for-traffic-control-devices-the-manual-on-uniform-traffic-control-devices-for }}</ref> The adoption of the [[Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act]] (IIJA) in November 2021 also directed the USDOT to update the MUTCD by no later than May 15, 2023, and at least every four years thereafter.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/mutcd11status.htm |title=Status of Rulemaking for the Eleventh Edition of the MUTCD |date=March 2, 2022 |access-date=March 2, 2023 |publisher=Federal Highway Administration}}</ref>
On May 15, 2023, despite provisions in the IIJA, the FHWA failed to release a new update to the MUTCD. The FHWA cited the volume of comments as a reason for the delay.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways: What's New |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |url=https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/index.htm |access-date=2023-05-15 }}</ref> The 11th edition of the MUTCD was released on December 19, 2023.<ref name="Woodhouse">{{cite news |last1=Woodhouse |first1=Skylar |title=Rules of the Road Get a Long-Awaited Update in the US |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-19/us-roadbuilding-bible-gets-update-as-pedestrian-deaths-rise |access-date=December 20, 2023 |work=Bloomberg |date=December 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/fhwa-releases-new-traffic-control-device-manual-updates-improve-safety-pedestrians |title=FHWA Releases New Traffic Control Device Manual with Updates to Improve Safety for Pedestrians, Bicyclists, and All Road Users |date=December 19, 2023 |access-date=December 27, 2023 |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation}}</ref>
▲The 11th edition allows painted red bus lanes, rules allowing more crosswalks and traffic signals, new rules for determining speed limits, signage for shoulders that are used part-time as traffic lanes, and new signage for [[electric vehicle charging station]]s and [[autonomous vehicle]]s.<ref name="2023_revision_final" /> It also adds painted green bike lanes, bike boxes, and bike-specific traffic lights. Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) were also added to the MUTCD; a pedestrian beacon for uncontrolled intersections consisting of two rectangular lights, side-by-side, which alternate flashing, under a yellow diamond with a walking person on it, above an arrow pointing out the crosswalk.<ref name="2023_revision_final">[https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2023-27178.pdf RIN 2125-AF85 National Standards for Traffic Control Devices; the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways; Revision], III. Summary of the Major Provisions of the Regulatory Action in Question</ref> RRFBs were previously on interim approval by the FHWA since March 20, 2018.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=January 12, 2024 |title=Interim Approval 21 – Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacons at Crosswalks - Interim Approvals Issued by FHWA |url=https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/interim_approval/ia21/index.htm |website=MUTCD |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |date=March 20, 2018}}</ref> Transportation safety advocates criticized the changes as not going far enough to deal with a substantial spike in pedestrian fatalities, especially guidance setting speed limits [[85th percentile speed|based on the 85th percentile of actual driving speeds]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/12/31/1222174861/road-street-design-traffic-mutcd |title=The rules of the road are changing, but not fast enough for everyone |date=December 31, 2023 |author=Joel Rose}}</ref><ref>[https://t4america.org/2023/12/20/press-statement-newly-updated-mutcd-doesnt-go-far-enough-to-protect-pedestrians/ Press statement: Newly updated MUTCD doesn’t go far enough to protect pedestrians]</ref><ref>[https://usa.streetsblog.org/2023/12/19/feds-advocates-talk-about-whats-in-the-new-mutcd-and-what-isnt Feds, Advocates Talk About What’s In The New MUTCD (And What Isn’t)!]</ref>
== Development ==
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