• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Logo

Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse

Library of Resources to Improve Roadway Work Zone Safety for All Roadway Users

  • About
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
  • X
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Work Zone Data
    • At a Glance
    • National & State Traffic Data
    • Work Zone Traffic Crash Trends and Statistics
    • Worker Fatalities and Injuries at Road Construction Sites
  • Topics of Interest
    • Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety
    • Smart Work Zones
    • Work Zone Safety and MobilityTransportation Management Plans
    • Accommodating Pedestrians
    • Worker Safety and Welfare
    • Project Coordination in Work Zones
  • Training
    • Flagger
    • Online Courses
    • Toolboxes
    • FHWA Safety Grant Products
    • Certification and
      Accreditation
  • Work Zone Devices
  • Laws, Standards & Policies
  • Public Awareness
  • Events
  • About
  • Contact
  • Search
Publication

A Traffic Manual ‘To Fall Asleep by’ Stirs Road Rage

Author/Presenter: Wehrman, Jessica
Abstract:

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), an 862-page manual governing traffic signs and signals that one analyst calls “a good book to fall asleep by,” has ignited a pitched battle over how the federal government approaches transportation policy. Backers of the MUTCD have spent hundreds of hours offering feedback to the Federal Highway Administration, which issues the book. Pedestrian advocates, bicycle coalitions and advocates for multimodal transportation say the manual, first published in 1935, is a relic of an era when the automobile was king. The manual that was described as sleep-inducing by a person close to its production is now undergoing its first update since 2009, and much has changed since then.

Source: Roll Call
Publication Date: April 5, 2021
Full Text URL: Link to URL
Publication Types: News and Other Non-research Articles
Topics: Bicycle Safety; Standards; Temporary Traffic Control; Traffic Control Devices

Copyright © 2025 American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse is a project of the ARTBA Transportation Development Foundation. It is operated in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration and Texas A&M Transportation Institute. | Copyright Statement · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer
American Road and Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation, American Road and Transportation Builders Association U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Texas A&M Transportation Institute