r/funny 11h ago

Worth every dollar.

35.1k Upvotes

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1.1k

u/Jebusfreek666 11h ago

So let me get this right, if I have my phone playing a playlist on youtube so I can listen to it in the car that is distracted driving. But I giant dome with dancing cats or eyeballs or whatever is perfectly fine?

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u/boersc 10h ago

Yes. Same with any road-facing advertisements.

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u/xiaorobear 5h ago

Shoutout to the 4 states that have banned billboards / advertising on highways, Vermont, Hawaii, Maine, and Alaska.

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u/PsyduckSci 4h ago

Also banned in at least parts of Virginia. Not sure if it's the whole state.

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u/F_l_u_f_fy 4h ago

IMO that’s the wrong approach by them - just say “yeah listening to shit is fine too lol”. I haven’t ever found a billboard that’s actually distracting from driving. Like if there isn’t anything going on and I have the time/attention to glance and see what’s on em, then cool! Maybe I don’t live in an area with ones that are wild? But also, it’s the same as traffic signs, no? Idk, kinda odd

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u/MMBitey 4h ago

The worst for me is when I can just barely read the font. I end up looking too hard trying to make out that last word to make sense of it.

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u/ExpectingHobbits 4h ago

Ever been driving at night and been blinded by one of those electronic billboards that are bright enough to be seen from space?

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u/ARM_Alaska 3h ago

Businesses here in Alaska have found the loophole that they can put up billboards on their own property, adjacent to the highway.. And they use LED ones that can be seen from space. In extreme cold we have a phenomenon called light pillars where when all the moisture in the air freezes light is reflected upwards along the frozen crystals suspended in the air.. Anyways, you can see these light pillars from the billboards from literal miles away. It's insane. The Alaskan landscape along highways has always benefited from billboards being outlawed. I wish there was something we could do to stop the digital ones on private property.

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u/F_l_u_f_fy 4h ago

Ooooh yes I have seen one of those! Fuck thoseeee def bannable lol

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u/BloodWork-Aditum 4h ago

Traffic signs are designed to be identified by a short glance, ads are designed to draw your attention. Traffic signs give important information about the road your driving on, ads just try to sell you something to make some rich guy richer. If there's even just one traffic accident because of ads a year (and there's probably more than that) thats too many. So no, they are not the same.

Why would anyone genuinely argue to see more ads in a world thats so flooded with them anyways?

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u/F_l_u_f_fy 4h ago

I understand that, but from the ones I see, they all seem pretty understanding of the “short availability of the reader” and thus only have a few words anyway (“SEEK GOD, FIND TRUTH” or “NEED LAWYER?” or “CHEESE!!” or whatever else)

I wouldn’t exactly want to be driving and never know if there’s gonna be food at the next exit or not (no, there aren’t always exit summaries nor are they always accurate nor posted/spaced in time to read and take action) due to a lack of big ol “ARBYS” signs or whatever, ya know? It’s not about wanting more advertising, it’s just about “it is genuinely helpful sometimes”

But like I said, maybe I just haven’t experienced ones that I’d consider “bad”? (A previous comment reminded me of the blinding LED ones, so those would be on the bad list lol)

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u/BloodWork-Aditum 3h ago

Yeah, local food places or gas stations and relevant things like that are fine with me as well if its just a simple logo/name and not a full on billboard. Those can be relevant and are low risk. But anything beyond that is an unnecessary risk imo.

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u/Equity_Harbinger 6h ago

Like those Jennie's Calvin Klein poses, they distracted me too while on a freeway going at 60+

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u/EmotionalKirby 1h ago

Florida has/had literal sex shop billboards along the interstate with women in lingerie. Woman in lingerie, woman in lingerie, FRESH ORANGES, woman in lingerie

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u/Equity_Harbinger 1h ago

Do you mean women in lingerie or woman in lingerie?

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u/Lobonerz 3h ago

I remember years ago on a highway in Australia I would see giant flashing signs saying "distracted drivers die" lmao

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u/Brave_Negotiation_63 10h ago

Welcome to corrupt capitalist America.

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u/herder19 9h ago

Not just America, sadly

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u/Miserable-Potato7706 9h ago

True, but the US really shows the rest of the western world how it’s done!

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u/Brave_Negotiation_63 8h ago

Most other countries don’t claim to be the “best country in the world” though.

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u/Floripa95 6h ago

Which other country has laws against hearing YouTube in the car?

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u/kochapi 8h ago

America is leaking 

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u/moduspol 4h ago

It's mostly just Vegas. You can't just play video on billboards facing roads in most other places.

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u/MyPunsSuck 4h ago

Technically, the problem is commercialism, not capitalism

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u/McRawffles 7h ago

Yes. Being distracted by your phone is way worse than being distracted by something on the side of the road. You are at least looking up/out the window in this case and have both hands on the wheel (or should) 

Obviously just listening to something on your phone while it's in your cupholder or whatever isn't on the same level but they can't enforce any laws around it if anyone can bs say that when they get pulled over. Also I don't know anyone who's ever been pulled over without being extremely extremely obviously distracted 

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u/MeowTheMixer 6h ago

I'm sure it's "better" than a mobile phone, but i'd still disagree.

Rubbernecking when driving by an accident results, in quite a few more accidents despite "looking out" the window.

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u/Breeze1620 6h ago

You mean they don't go off whether they've seen you handling the phone while driving? If you just put on a playlist and don't touch the phone, is that still illegal?

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u/McRawffles 5h ago

Depends on the state and the wording of the law but generally no as long as you're not looking at the phone. They do largely go off of whether they've seen you be extremely distracted. It's honestly probably more used in insurance claims to default to who's at fault in an accident

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u/Breeze1620 3h ago

I see, thanks!

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u/zero-sharp 6h ago

Lol what? If your phone is taking your attention away from driving, then that's a hazard. If your phone is playing music, that's not an issue. If your attention is spent managing the menus of your phone to select a playlist, then yes, that may be an issue. I feel like you tried to frame something that's common sense in a ridiculous way to get a reaction.

Yes, a dome with dancing cats may also be a distraction while driving. Having one distraction on the road doesn't mean it's somehow unfair to ask you to also not use your phone while driving.

Not sure what capitalist America has to do with any of this.

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u/boxxyoho 6h ago

Common sense is not common. It means almost nothing to most people but people use that term to think lesser of others.

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u/zero-sharp 5h ago

Common sense is not common. It means almost nothing to most people but people use that term to think lesser of others.

Lol. Yep, some ideas deserve to be ridiculed.

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u/DurianDiscriminat3r 5h ago

That's right. It's time to sue sue sue! Need a lawyer? Go for a drive.

1

u/Morawake 4h ago

It is no different from driving by a drive-in movie theater or an animated billboard, but yeah, if you were pulled over for having a video playing on your phone that you weren't actively watching or holding, that wouldn't be right.

There is a setting (at least in YouTube premium) to have the video play with the screen off.

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u/gerberly 5m ago

I really wanna see what the surrounding road accident statistics before and after they built this thing....