U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
400 Seventh St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590
Refer to: HOTO-1

Mr. Charlie Krajicek
Traffic Engineer
Public Works Department
Omaha/Douglas Civic Center
1819 Farnam Street, Suite 601
Omaha, NE 68183-0601

Dear Mr. Krajicek:

Thank you for your July 6 letter requesting permission to experiment with a different Speed Limit 25 MPH sign. We have reviewed your request and our first question is "are there identified problems with the approved standard Speed Limit (R2-1) sign?" We have no data to indicate that the existing sign is misunderstood or that there are significant safety problems identified with the standard Speed Limit sign.

Our next observation concerns the design of the speed limit sign in your proposal. The symbol of the children playing gives the image of children playing in the street and this is a practice that we do not want to condone or promote. Additionally, the symbol of the children playing compromises the regulatory speed message. The speed limit "25 mph" is the critical message that we want to convey to the road user. The size of the speed limit message on the standard 24 x 30 inch sign is 10 inches in order to provide adequate legibility and visibility distance. Combining the "25 mph" message with the symbol and the message "keep kids alive" would decrease the effectiveness of this regulatory sign.

We also noticed that the proposed sign has a registered trademark. It may be helpful for you to understand that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) does not endorse specific products or manufacturers. Traffic control devices are not proprietary. All road symbols (except the Interstate route marker which was developed and copyrighted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) approved by the FHWA are in the public domain and are available for public use and reproduction by any person or company.

Based on the above information, your request for experimentation is not approved. We believe that the standard Speed Limit sign is appropriate for use. For recordkeeping purposes, we have assigned the following official ruling number and title to this request: "Request No. II-371(Expr.), Keep Kids Alive Speed Limit Sign."

Sincerely yours,

Donald P. Steinke
Director, Office of Transportation Operations