Ever wonder who comes up with the stuff on those digital signs above Memphis interstates? For this holiday season, it’s you.
Voting ends tomorrow evening in the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) Make Travel Bright Safety Sign Contest. Take the survey here to vote for your favorite and see it in lights as you drive around this month.
Here are the finalists:
• All I want for Christmas is You. Drive Safe!
• Deck the halls. Not each other. Stop road rage.
• Did you have half a drink more? Please don’t drive.
• Don’t be a cotton headed ninny muggins. Drive sober
• FA LA LA LA LA Don’t drink and drive
• He sees you when you’re speeding…
• Leave getting lit to the Christmas lights. Don’t drink and drive.
• Get HO-HO-Home safely. Don’t drink and drive.
• Waiting to text is the ultimate flex. Put down your phone.
• Drinking and driving is on Santa’s naughty list.
Those signs are called Dynamic Message Signs. There are 217 of them spread across Tennessee’s biggest metros — Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville. Some are in rural parts of the state, too.
The slogans are called “holiday travel safety messages.” The contest for slogans began at the beginning of the month with open nominations. They were to focus on safe driving topics like speeding, seat belts, impaired driving, aggressive driving, and distracted driving.
The winning entries could not have hashtags, phone numbers, website addresses, or emojis. Lewd or profane messages were not allowed. The signs can accommodate three lines of text with up to 21 characters (including spaces).
“This contest is a fun way to engage citizens and assist TDOT in accomplishing our goal of saving lives by getting the attention of drivers and reminding them to practice safe driving habits,” said Deputy Governor and TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley. “We encourage motorists to check the message boards daily for important travel information. This holiday season we want everyone to reach their destination safely.”
After voting concludes on Friday at 5 p.m., the messages will begin appearing on the state’s digital signs.
