ADOT reveals Safety Message Contest winners

PHOENIX – Thousands entered, thousands voted and thousands of motorists on Arizona’s highways will see the results Friday of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Safety Message Contest.  

After tallying 8,000 votes for the 20 safety message finalists, the winning messages are:

THAT’S THE
TEMPERATURE – NOT
THE SPEED LIMIT 

SINGLE IN HOV?
GET A REAL DATE
NOT A COURT DATE

Both winning messages will appear on overhead signs Friday, while the “temperature” message will remain on signs through Sunday evening. The “HOV” message will reappear on signs in the Phoenix area on Monday.

ADOT received more than 6,700 message submissions, including about 3,500 in the first 24 hours of the contest.

“We want to thank everyone who participated in the contest, sending in entries and voting,” said Kevin Biesty, ADOT deputy director for policy. “Our hope in putting unconventional safety messages on the overhead signs is that drivers will engage with the message and driver behavior will begin to change, making roads safer for everyone.”

Phoenix residents Ashley Servatius and Jim Atkinson submitted the winning entries. Personal experiences inspired their messages.

“A friend and I were driving and she was alarmed because she thought I was driving 101 miles per hour,” Servatius explained. “Little did she know, that was my temperature gauge and not my speedometer. It was a good laugh.”

Atkinson said HOV-lane violators are a pet peeve and he was glad to see the installation last year of permanent signs along Phoenix freeways that remind drivers of a $400 minimum fine for violating the HOV-lane law. He wants violators to know something else, too.

“Plus, when you’re cruising down the road and other drivers see you,” he said, “you just look bad.”

ADOT thanks everyone who participated in the contest. Messages that did not win will be considered for future use – one submission that was not a finalist appeared on overhead signs in March.