Officials said they could not afford to develop a “Buddy Alert” to warn drivers of wrong way drivers headed in their direction, but they did have enough money to sponsor a caption contest. Thousands entered, thousands voted in the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Safety Message Contest.
Related article: Arizona Officials Thwart Buddy Alert Bill, Wrong Way Drivers Denied Warnings
After tallying 8,000 votes for the 20 safety message finalists, the winning messages are:
THAT’S THE TEMPERATURE – NOT THE SPEED LIMIT and SINGLE IN HOV? GET A REAL DATE NOT A COURT DATE
ADOT received more than 6,700 message submissions, including about 3,500 in the first 24 hours of the contest.
“We want to thank everyone who participated in the contest, sending in entries and voting,” said Kevin Biesty, ADOT deputy director for policy. “Our hope in putting unconventional safety messages on the overhead signs is that drivers will engage with the message and driver behavior will begin to change, making roads safer for everyone.”
Phoenix residents Ashley Servatius and Jim Atkinson submitted the winning entries. Personal experiences inspired their messages.
“A friend and I were driving and she was alarmed because she thought I was driving 101 miles per hour,” Servatius explained. “Little did she know, that was my temperature gauge and not my speedometer. It was a good laugh.”
Atkinson said HOV-lane violators are a pet peeve and he was glad to see the installation last year of permanent signs along Phoenix freeways that remind drivers of a $400 minimum fine for violating the HOV-lane law. He wants violators to know something else, too. “Plus, when you’re cruising down the road and other drivers see you,” he said, “you just look bad.”
Messages that did not win will be considered for future use.