Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:21, 3 July 2025

Revision as of 17:23, 3 July 2025

Line 50:

In 1960, the National Joint Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices was again reorganized to include representatives of the [[National Association of Counties]] and the [[National League of Cities]], then known as the American Municipal Association.<ref name="Johnson" /> In 1961, the MUTCD was again revised to make yellow center lines mandatory for the two exceptions where they had previously been recommended.<ref name="NCHRPReport484" /> The 1961 edition was the first edition to provide for uniform signs and barricades to direct traffic around [[Roadworks|road construction]] and maintenance operations.<ref name="Johnson" />

During the 1960s, one of the most energetic traffic safety advocates in the United States was Connecticut politician [[Abraham Ribicoff]], who had previously served as governor of his state and then went on to serverepresent his state in the [[United States Senate]].<ref name="RibicoffObituary">{{cite news |title=Ribicoff of Connecticut Dies; Governor and Senator Was 87 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/23/nyregion/ribicoff-of-connecticut-dies-governor-and-senator-was-87.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 23, 1998 |page=A1}}</ref> In an essay published in the July 1965 edition of ''[[The Atlantic|The Atlantic Monthly]]'', Senator Ribicoff sarcastically mocked a variety of idiotic traffic rules, signs, and markings in order to persuade Americans why all these things must be made uniform across the land.<ref name="Ribicoff">{{cite news |last1=Ribicoff |first1=Abraham |title=Harmony on the Highways |url=https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/archives/1965/07/216-1/132561816.pdf |work=The Atlantic Monthly |date=July 1965 |pages=80-83}}</ref> For example, two of the worst deviations from the majority rule that no passing should be marked with a solid center line were Pennsylvania, which marked no-passing zones only with signs and not center lines, and Georgia, which marked them only with a yellow line on the shoulder.<ref name="Ribicoff" /> Like MacDonald several decades earlier, Ribicoff's point was that uniformity saves lives by leaving no ambiguity in traffic situations where the difference between life or death often depends upon split-second decisionmaking.<ref name="Ribicoff" />

In 1966, Congress passed the [[National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act|Highway Safety Act]], {{USPL|89|564}}, {{USStat|72|885}}, which is now codified at {{UnitedStatesCode|23|401}} ''et seq.'' It required all states to create a highway safety program by December 31, 1968, and to adhere to uniform standards promulgated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as a condition of receiving federal highway-aid funds.<ref>{{cite book |first = Edward C. |last = Fisher |title = Vehicle Traffic Law |___location = Evanston, Illinois |publisher = Traffic Institute, Northwestern University |year = 1961 |edition = 1967 supp. |page = 11 }}</ref> The penalty for non-compliance was a 10% reduction in funding. In turn, taking advantage of broad rulemaking powers granted in {{UnitedStatesCode|23|402}}, the Department simply adopted the entire MUTCD by reference at {{CodeFedReg|23|655|603}}. ({{UnitedStatesCode|5|552}}(a)(1), also enacted in 1966, authorizes federal agencies to incorporate by reference technical standards published elsewhere, which means the agency may merely cite the standard and need not republish its entire text as part of the appropriate regulation.) Thus, what was formerly a quasi-official project became an official one. States are allowed to supplement the MUTCD but must remain in "substantial conformance" with the national MUTCD and adopt changes within two years after they are adopted by FHWA.