If you suspect Missouri's highways are speaking to you with sassy quips like "Unbuckled? Seriously?" or "Leave the buzz for the bees. Drive sober," you haven't lost your mind.
In fact, Missouri's transportation department (MoDOT) is getting bolder, thanks to an initiative that began in April 2014.
These black signs with glowing orange letters are called "dynamic message signs." Missouri has about 250 of them, and they're meant to warn drivers of major roadwork, like a lane closure or a work zone.
But when road construction wasn't underway, those dynamic message signs once sat blank. In 2014, MoDOT decided this resource didn't have to be wasted - it could be used for the public good.
"The decision was made about a year ago that we wanted to be more strategic about those signs," said Linda Wilson-Horn, communications coordinator at MoDOT. "Instead of just random safety messages, we wanted to focus in on a few key messages each month, and make those key messages timely and focused on what time of year it is."
In May, for instance, MoDOT is targeting events such as graduation and prom, when celebrating students are likely to drink and take the wheel.
"Drive Hammered, Get Nailed. Enforcement up," one sign says.
Other messages get straight to the point without wordplay or sugarcoating.
"71% of MO teens killed in crashes were unbuckled," says another.
Seatbelt signs are another May staple. The Highway Patrol launches its Click It or Ticket campaign encouraging drivers to buckle up, and MoDOT plans to coordinate its messages alongside the campaign.
As the weather turns warmer, motorcyclists take to the road. Therefore, signs such as "It's bike season. Use your head and your helmet" are making an appearance, too.
Wilson-Horn is one of three core members who brainstorm each month for the campaign, along with traffic management and operations engineer Jon Nelson and senior customer relations specialist Angela Eden.
The group often invites input from other MoDOT employees, and they even get submissions from the public. For example, two students from the University of Missouri called MoDOT with the unsolicited suggestion to improve big rig awareness on the dynamic message signs.
MoDOT also adopts messages from other states; "Unbuckled? Seriously?" came from Iowa, Nelson said.
After a year of the initiative to boost safety on Missouri's highways with those bright orange letters, MoDOT has indeed struck people's attention.
There's no way to know if there's a direct correlation between safety messages and actual car accidents; too many other factors are in involved. But the goal was to get more people talking about safety on highways, "and it worked," Nelson said. "Overwhelmingly, the response has been positive from feedback we've gotten on social media, Facebook or emails or occasionally a direct phone call."
Come the end of May, MoDOT will be conducting an online survey of the most popular highway safety messages. In June, the top three messages will be announced.
For now, the general public can email MoDOT directly with questions, comments or their own suggestions for witty highway messages at [email protected].