I think the governor has bigger fish to fry than to weigh in on this. He should shut up and focus on the state deficit, unemployment, and the fact that he has failed to protect children from predators his entire tenure in office.

I mean, c'mon, how important is this issue really?

So far I have experienced a slight slowdown by the message board just before Dulaney Valley Road. It's noticeable, but the information is nice to have.

I hope they give it some time to let people get used to it.

I frequently drive to/from DC from Towson via 695, 95 and 495, and have found that (a) the signs do not cause delays and (b) the information is surprisingly accurate and extremely helpful.

I drive daily from my East Baltimore home to my job in College Park, using I-95.

I have no strong feelings about the travel-time messages. I don't see them as any more a distraction than the emergency-situation postings (such as the other afternoon when a sign warned me that the Harbor Tunnel was closed). I sometimes will do some quick math to see if the posted/forecast speed is less than 60mph, to give me some indication of any looming backup. I guess, I see no real need being met, though, and could easily do without them.

The occasional message telling me to "Report Suspicious Activity" is always a bit unnerving....in its Orwellian way.

I have to agree with a previous commenter in the other thread. It would make much more sense to have signs before major onramps, telling you about traffic BEFORE you have to get on the highway. Once you are there, it's too late.

At first the signs were certainly causing a slow down. Now that people are learning how to read highway signs in between catching up on blackberry e-mail, books and newspapers while they drive, congestion is no longer an issue.

I enjoy the information but fear people may be getting used to the signs which may or may not cause issues if an important alert were to come up.

COMMENT: Not to worry. The SHA says it will pre-empt those messages if an emergency arises.

"he has failed to protect children from predators his entire tenure in office."

What the heck?

So let me get this straight:

Talking on cell phones while driving: still a permissible distraction.

Informing us via passive message boards of traffic conditions ahead: Too much of a distraction for drivers, so we have to stop that.

Have I got this right?

The bigger question in my mind is whether these signs really add any value in relation to what they cost to put up and operate. We've all survived for quite awhile without signs telling us how many more minutes we have until we get to I-495. This is a nice extra if money weren't an issue but given the other infrastructure that doesn't really function I think we could have spent our money more wisely.

While I'm a traffic engineer and not a psychologist or sociologist, I think that the reason for any slowdowns (assuming that the anecdotal reports of slowdowns are even true) is that, until now, the only messages that ever appeared were to advise of problems: accidents, road work, amber alerts, etc. Therefore, what we're seeing now is a pavlovian response to the illuminated letters: oh, I see the sign is on up ahead, there must be a problem.

When people have had time to acclimate to the fact that not every message is necessarily warning of a problem, and may be merely informational in nature, the slowdowns will be a thing of the past. Travel time signs are deployed in other areas throughout the country with no deleterious effects on traffic, according to some colleagues I consulted informally.

Travel 95 North to Baltimore around 3-5 and you will find a large % of driver that can't read the signs quick enough. There are slow downs on a daily basis at the rest stop sign and I think between Exit 41 and 43. The stoppages are directly attributable to the signs. I wish they would turn them off or require drivers to pass a literacy test before getting behind the wheel.

I really can't understand why there is any debate about this. There are countless signs on roadways already. Reading signs while in motion is a necessary driving skill. If people can't handle it, they should get off the road. We coddle people too much in this country.

I think O'Malley should have invested in fixing the state's dangerous roads and ensuring that he had enough money to maintain the state's existing roads, rather than blowing billions on the Intercounty Congestor.

Let's see; O'Malley v. Ehrlich.

How about None of the Above?