Maryland--Here's your signs!

I travelled into Maryland last week for a training session. I must say that I love driving through Maryland because the road signs are always amusing to me. There is no pussy-footing around for the Maryland sign makers. They are not afraid to use all caps, different colors, and brevity to get their message across to drivers.
You will have to forgive the lighting and angles in the pictures below. When you are driving, you can't stop in the middle of the road to frame a shot. In Maryland, you can't drive and use a hand-held cellphone either. I wonder what they would say about a camera?
Anyway, I left my house at 5:30 in the morning and the sun was just coming up as I saw this sign. The sign says "ALTERNATE RIGHT OF WAY". Now this is what drivers should do in a merge zone, but this sign leaves no doubt about it.

A bit farther down the road, this sign appeared. "Form single lane NOW".

No wonder it seems that Maryland drivers seem a bit confused when they are in other states, the signs must seem like mere suggestions when you are used to imperative signs like this one. A recent poll does seem to indicate that Maryland drivers are less skilled than those in Virginia. Of course, if you ask Maryland drivers, they would say the same about Virginia drivers. One thing they seem to agree on is that DC drivers are the worst in the area.

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