Skip to main content

Dynamic safe driving messages raise awareness

In a new effort to warn drivers to focus on the road, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is using its more than 250 dynamic message signs on interstates and major highways to send safety messages to drivers. The state says speeding, impaired driving, not wearing seatbelts and distracted driving are some of the leading causes of the 550 deaths to date in 2014. "Messages like ‘Put Down Your Phone and Drive, It Can Wait' or ‘Leave All Tailgating at the Game' are designed to raise awareness o
October 7, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
In a new effort to warn drivers to focus on the road, the 1773 Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is using its more than 250 dynamic message signs on interstates and major highways to send safety messages to drivers.  The state says speeding, impaired driving, not wearing seatbelts and distracted driving are some of the leading causes of the 550 deaths to date in 2014.

"Messages like ‘Put Down Your Phone and Drive, It Can Wait' or ‘Leave All Tailgating at the Game' are designed to raise awareness of these driving behaviour," said MoDOT Traffic management and operations engineer Jon Nelson. "Driving is a serious task that demands your attention. We hope our sometimes humorous and interesting messages will remind drivers to refocus on the task at hand."

Messages are changed each month and focus on seasonal issues or safety enforcement campaigns.  October messages include "Unbuckled? Seriously", "One Text or Call Could Wreck It All, It Can Wait", "If You Can't See Trucks Mirrors, They Can't See You", and "Drinking and Driving Don't Mix."

"The primary purpose of the dynamic message signs is to share incident and work zone information to motorists," said Nelson. "When we don't have these incidents, we are using the message signs to share driving safety information instead of just leaving them blank."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Latest A9 speed camera report ‘shows improvement in driver behaviour’
    July 28, 2015
    The latest performance data for A9 speed camera system has been published by Transport Scotland on behalf of the A9 Safety Group, covering the period May 2015 to July 2015 (incidents are quarter two April to June) as an overall assessment of the performance of the route. The report incorporates the first information in relation to collision and casualty figures covering the period from October 2014 to March 2015, which are reported against the average of the equivalent months in the preceding three year
  • Legalities of in-vehicle systems and cooperative infrastructures
    February 1, 2012
    Paul Laurenza of Dykema Gossett PLLC discusses the paths which lawmakers may go down on the route to making in-vehicle systems and cooperative infrastructures a reality. The question of whether or not to mandate in-vehicle systems for safety and other applications is a vexed one. There is a presumption on some parts that going down the road of forcing systems' fitment is somehow too domineering or restricting. Others would argue that it is the only realistic way of ensuring that systems achieve widespread d
  • USDoT responds to death crash 'crisis' on roads 
    November 4, 2021
    'First-ever' national safety-first roadway strategy comes as 20,160 die in first half of 2021
  • No compromise on workzone safety
    January 14, 2022
    The National Work Zone Memorial is a sobering reminder of the dangers of working on US highways. More accurate and timely information can help reduce risks, explains One.network’s Simon Topp