I agree, don’t like it a damn bit either. But it has been a thing for as long as I’ve been old enough to notice. So 50+ years, maybe going on 60
I remember reading a column by Jean Shepherd in Car & Driver, many years ago, in which he speculated that people shoot road signs because the signs are always bossing people around, telling them what to do and what not to do. He suggested putting up signs here and there that said such things as Go Ahead and Pass on This Blind Corner, After All You Only Live Once. I don’t believe any highway departments ever tried this, though.