Background behind 4th qtr 2007 poll question on road sign legibility

The current 4th Qtr 2007 poll question came about after taking a 10-hour road trip back from a speaking gig and having problems seeing road signs in the dusk of early evening. The freeway signs, white on green, were so hard to read—let alone the lighting being nearly nonexistent. For me, there wasn't enough contrast between the white letters and the green background. There are many countries in Europe using black letters on a white background and/or white letters on a dark (nearly black or black) background as they have found it more legible to the eye, both during the day and at night. So I decided to present this issue to you in the form on a poll. So please vote!

With the aging of the population, it's inevitable that we will see an increase in problems on the roads due to road sign illegibility. In August 2007, the New York Times published an article about Clearview, a typeface that is being more widely accepted as a choice for road signage. The reasons why Clearview is more legible, follow my own research into what is important for making type legible. Take a look at this New York Times article.

The time to make legibility better is now—before we start seeing more accidents from visually-confused older drivers on our roads. Let's talk about positive change. What have you personally experienced that has led you astray on the roads? What do you think would make road signs easier to read? Or maybe you don't think there is a problem. If so, state your case!