Skip to main content

IDoT launches digital road safety campaign

Illinois Transportation Secretary Ann L. Schneider has kicked off a statewide digital message board campaign to help reduce roadway fatalities occurring this year. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDoT) has started to rotate four key traffic safety messages daily starting, in conjunction with a social media and internet page presence. As of July 5, provisional crash data reports 479 fatalities have taken place on Illinois roadways this year, as compared to 418 during the same timeframe last year.
July 10, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSSIllinois Transportation Secretary Ann L. Schneider has kicked off a statewide digital message board campaign to help reduce roadway fatalities occurring this year. The 2030 Illinois Department of Transportation (IDoT) has started to rotate four key traffic safety messages daily starting, in conjunction with a social media and internet page presence. As of July 5, provisional crash data reports 479 fatalities have taken place on Illinois roadways this year, as compared to 418 during the same timeframe last year.

“We want all Illinois motorists to take a role in our fight against impaired and distracted driving, and strongly welcome the efforts of all concerned residents to help create awareness of the need to lower traffic-related fatalities,” said Secretary Schneider. “This inventive campaign is about using the resources at hand to help inform the public, save lives, and prevent crashes from occurring as much as possible. Simply stated, our goal is to drive zero fatalities to reality.”

IDOT’s statewide messaging boards are primarily reserved for emergencies such as Amber alerts or traffic incident management alerts relating to crashes, detours, lane closures, critical road construction or maintenance operation information. Emergency messages will take precedence over the traffic information campaign, along with information regarding travel times, special events, inclement weather alerts and traffic impacts. Traffic safety campaign messaging are to be posted during times when such emergency alerts are not required.

The agency has also created and featured a public-service announcement (PSA) on YouTube, showing the real-life aftermath of crashes. The PSA can be viewed here.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Increased automation is already improving road safety
    April 20, 2017
    Richard Cuerden considers how many of the technologies developed as part of a move toward autonomous vehicles are already being deployed as ADAS improve road safety. The drive to create autonomous vehicles has caused a re-evaluation of what is needed to safely navigate today’s roads and the development of systems that can replace the driver in many scenarios. However, many manufacturers are not waiting for ‘tomorrow’ and are already incorporating these systems in their new cars as Advanced Driver Assistanc
  • UK government backtracking on biennial vehicle tests plan
    April 18, 2012
    The current UK government, which pledged to cut bureaucracy, had set its sights on the annual MOT vehicle inspections. “Cars are more reliable and the annual test has not changed in 50 years,” transport secretary Philip Hammond announced. The plan was for vehicle testing every two years instead of annually.
  • IIID Expert Forum - call for speakers
    May 18, 2012
    The International Institute for Information Design (IIID) has issued a call for speakers for the 6th IIID Expert Forum Traffic & Transport Information Systems, being held on 8-9 September, 2011, in Vienna Austria. This year's event is focused on Traffic, Transport and Social Media, and in addition to the main conference, Innovations in traffic & transport information is a special session focused on innovative projects and results beyond real time information. The session is geared to the interests of inform
  • ‘Free’ power for signs, shelters and so much more
    March 17, 2016
    David Crawford looks at the sunny side of the street. Solar power has been relatively slow in entering the transport sector, but a current blossoming of activity bodes well for the large-scale harnessing of an alternative energy that is zero-emission at source and, in practical terms, infinitely renewable. Traffic management and traveller information systems, and actual vehicles, are all emerging as areas for deployment. Meanwhile roads themselves are being viewed as new-style, fossil fuel-free ‘power stati