Some years ago, road signs began showing up all over that said "Limited Sight Distance." It seemed there had been some system-wide decision to adopt this language as the official road sign for areas where a hill or a curve obscured driveways or crossings and made it hard to know what's ahead -- or for, say, people backing out of blind driveways to know you were coming. So there was a reasonable need for caution.
I knew what the signs meant: Be careful because you can't see ahead, and they can't see you coming. But the wording was so cumbersome that I would get distracted trying to parse that phrase: what does "limited sight distance" actually mean? I would forget the need for caution in my preoccupation with the awkward phrase.
Today, driving to the Whole Foods store, I passed one of those signs where there are concealed driveways just over the crest of a steep hill. The "Limited Sight Distance" sign had been replaced. It now says, simply:
"Hill Blocks View"
Thank you.
Ralph
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