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JUN. 7.2004 1:01PM LEROY SIGNS NO.288 P.5i11 1 In highway design, the standard usually used for visual acuity is 1 " of letter height to 4.0' of viewing distance. Highway signs have two distinct advantages which on-premise business signs do not have. They are usually either directly facing traffic or immediately adjacent to the freeway. In addition, they are almost always easy-to-read white lettering on a green or blue background, Motorists, familiar with the standardized style of lettering and the colors, immediately recognize that they are receiving directional information, For the on-premise business sign the situation is usually quite different. Business signs are .communicating information which the motorist may not be specifically looking for, In addition, unless the business is part of a national chain, backed up by extensive advertising in other forms of media, the sign itself is not standardized and therefore not immediately recognizable as offering a certain type of information. When calculating the size of letters necessary for an on-premise sign, therefore, it would be wise to use lower measures of visual acuity. Reaction Distance Reaction distance is always a complex subject and becomes even more difficult when applied to commercial signage. Briefly, reaction distance is a measure of the pr710Unr of rilne it takes a Neswer to React ra 0 SiPION0 17. For some sign users, taking reaction time into consideration is of utmost importance, If a substantial number of people who view the sign are new to a trade area, either as vacationers or business travelers, the amount of time needed to I'eact will probably be greater than that of people familiar with the area, Their reaction distance cannot realistically be compared to the time needed by a local resident who is on the street, say, thirty times a month and who knows the business establishments. The local resident may read only the changeable part or display section of the sign because the other sections are familiar and have been read many times before. Any system of measurement has to allow for these differences. It follows that estimates of the necessary or adequate sizes of signs should also include these considerations. The local resident may use the on- premise sign only incidentally and may actually react to a landmark or a configuration of streets in terms of direction. The out-of-towner, by comparison, would rely entirely on thesign• The reaction distance required for each type of viewer, therefore, is different. 154 The Sign User's Gylde., A Marketing A/d