Changes Coming For Texas Mailboxes

If your mailbox is located near a busy Texas highway, it probably only has numbers on it and a reflector mounted to its post because that's all Texas Department of Transportation allowed. "Now we are allowing home owners to use commercially made devices that display their emergency address on the mounting post or to the mailbox itself, as long as it doesn't pose a traffic hazard," says Marcus Sandifer, Public Relations for the Transportation Department. Sandifer says safety is the primary concern at the department. That's why you won't find brick mailboxes along the highway.
 
"If somebody runs off the road and hits the mailbox and something comes flying off and hurts somebody, we have to be careful what we allow on the side of the highways," he says. Sandifer says because the Department's requirements are so strict, they will come by and mount your mailbox properly. You just have to provide the mailbox. " We have had complaints from people who wanted to use these devices, but we had to get the guidelines changed first." If you would like proper mailbox mounting directions, contact the nearest TxDOT office.