The Drive: Iowa DOT wants folks to die laughing, not driving

When it comes to driving home the message of traffic safety, you have to hand it to the folks at the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT). They're using humor on overhead electronic message signs to encourage motorists to make smart choices behind the wheel.

"Get Your Head Out of Your Apps, Drive Safely," read one message. "To: Driver. From: Seat Belt. I Think We Click," read another. And in a nod to "Star Wars" fans: "May the 4th Be With You, Text I Will Not."

The pithy messages — drawing on references from movies, TV shows, music and other slices of pop culture — appear on Message Monday, an initiative IDOT launched two years ago as part of a larger effort to reduce traffic fatalities. The goal of the once-a-week safety messages is to draw attention to serious topics such as drunken, aggressive, drowsy and distracted driving, speeding and seat belt use in a lighthearted way, said Andrea Henry, IDOT's director of Strategic Communications.

"Safety messages all start to sound the same, and we didn't want to talk to people like the government does," she said. "We wanted to find a way to get safety messages to the general public while they are in the act of driving."

Motorists apparently look forward to the messages, which have developed somewhat of a cult following. Thousands share the messages on Twitter and other social media and log on to IDOT's blog "Transportation Matters for Iowa" to learn more about the purpose behind the messages. Last week's, "Slow Ride … Take It Easy" was a nod to the English rock band Foghat's song.

Message Monday has been adopted by few other states. Utah launched it last year after traffic deaths had been on a three-year rise. Motorists there have even submitted suggestions for the signs.

Here in Minnesota, public service announcements are much more mundane. But rest assured, the folks at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) are not curmudgeons.

"We don't want drivers to be distracted. We try not to use them more than we have to, because we want people to pay attention to the message when there is one," Larson said.

MnDOT flashes public service announcements about 30 times a year and mostly in conjunction with national enforcement campaigns put on by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association.

Language matches the national message, Larson said, which is why messages here are buttoned down and say things such as "1 in 4 deaths caused by drunken drivers" and "1 in 5 traffic deaths are speed related."

While there is no evidence that the innovative effort in Iowa or Utah is any more effective in conveying safety messages or changing drivers' behavior than MnDOT's approach, "it's good that people are talking about safety messages," he said.