It’s that time of year again when we remind you to “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” if you ever encounter a dust storm...

Even if you’ve heard the message before, we hope you’ll keep listening and help us spread the word because there are plenty of young drivers and new Arizona residents who might not yet understand the real dangers of driving into a dust storm.

Know anyone who fits that description? We encourage you to educate them about dust storm safety. Of course, you can point them in our direction!

From websites and blog posts to Tweets and haikus, we have a lot to share, including today’s video, a brand new public service announcement that was created by ADOT and its partners at the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the National Weather Service.

Haboob Haiku

In addition to the video and a new radio public-education announcement, ADOT will be using social media all this week to engage Arizonans in spreading the word to “Pull Aside, Stay Alive.”

You know what that means: the “Haboob Haiku Challenge” is back for a fourth year!

You can read in detail why we #HaboobHaiku in this blog post, and you’ll see that our main focus each year is to get people talking about the dangers of driving in dust storms. By building awareness about dust storm safety, we hope more drivers will know what to do when that next dust storm hits.

But this year we’re putting a slight twist on the tradition…

Instead of asking you to focus your poems on the “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” message as we have in the past, this monsoon season we’d like for you to show off your creativity by telling us where you'll be when the dust settles with haikus about how to drive safely during dust storm events. Here’s an example:

When the dust settles

I will be safe off the road

With my seatbelt on

Don’t forget to use the #HaboobHaiku hashtag. You can Tweet your poems to us @ArizonaDOT or post them to our Facebook page. You’ll also want to remember that haiku is a type of poetry that conforms to a certain syllable structure. These poems are traditionally written in three lines – the first line consists of five syllables, the second line has seven and the third ends the poem with five.

Finally, we want to make sure you see (and share) these driving tips. They’re not just inspiration for your haikus, but important reminders for drivers who encounter a dust storm.

• Avoid driving into or through a dust storm.
• If you encounter a dust storm, check traffic immediately around your vehicle (front, back and to the side) and begin slowing down.
• Do not wait until poor visibility makes it difficult to safely pull off the roadway – do it as soon as possible. Completely exit the highway if you can.
• Do not stop in a travel lane or in the emergency lane; look for a safe place to pull completely off the paved portion of the roadway.
• Stop your vehicle in a position ensuring it is a safe distance from the main roadway and away from where other vehicles may travel.
• Turn off all vehicle lights, including your emergency flashers.
• Set your emergency brake and take your foot off the brake.
• Stay in the vehicle with your seatbelts buckled and wait for the storm to pass.
• Drivers of high-profile vehicles should be especially aware of changing weather conditions and travel at reduced speeds in high wind.
• A driver’s alertness and safe driving ability are always the top factors in preventing crashes. It is your responsibility to avoid distracted or impaired driving.

For more information, please visit PullAsideStayAlive.org.

By Doug Pacey
ADOT Office of Public Information

Monsoon season is upon Arizona. The powerful, ear-splitting thunderstorms don’t always arrive alone, though. Sometimes, they’re preceded by towering, blackout-inducing dust storms, also known as “haboobs.”

Dust storms can be extremely dangerous for motorists and the Arizona Department of Transportation is serious about dust storm safety.

ADOT’s “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” dust storm awareness campaign urges motorists to avoid driving into a dust storm. If a dust storm is in the far-off distance, do not drive toward it. If it is immediately ahead, slow down, pull off the highway as far as possible, turn off all vehicle lights (including emergency flashers and brake lights so other vehicles do not follow) and wait until the storm passes.

We want this information to stay with you, especially when you’re in your vehicle. So, we created a dust storm playlist. Load it onto your smartphone, stream it on Spotify, upload it to the cloud or burn a CD – people still do that, right? – then crank up your car stereo and rock out to the not-so-underlying musical messages of dust storm safety.

ADOT’s Dust Storm Playlist

1. “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” – The Clash
When it comes to dust storms, always stay and never go.

2. “I Will Wait” – Mumford & Sons
Actual lyrics:
These days of dust
Which we’ve known
Will blow away with this new sun
So, be like Mumford and wait.

3. “Stayin’ Alive” – Bee Gees
In our hearts, we believe Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb pulled aside to write “Stayin’ Alive.”

4. “Livin’ on a Prayer” – Bon Jovi
So what if you’re “halfway there?” Drive into a haboob and you will be livin’ on a prayer.

5. “Danger Zone” – Kenny Loggins
You want to take the highway to the danger zone? That’s a negative, Ghost Rider.

6. “All You had to do was Stay” – Taylor Swift
Stay put. Seriously, that’s all you have to do.

7. “Dust in the Wind” – Kansas
It’s mandatory for a song about dust to be included in a dust storm playlist, right?

8. “Ready, Set, Don’t Go” – Billy Ray Cyrus
Our achy, breaky heart will shatter if you don’t heed our “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” advice.

9. “Sandstorm” – Darude
Resist the urge to crack open the glow sticks from your vehicle’s emergency kit – remember, no lights! – when listening to this awesomely titled Finnish trance music.

Bonus Track
10. “Sasquatch” – The Winebottles
You never know where Bigfoot might pop up.

The official National Weather Service Arizona monsoon period, which runs June 15 to September 30, brings a variety of travel concerns in addition to dust storms, including flash flooding, rain-slicked roads and high winds. When adverse weather conditions are present, ADOT urges motorists to drive with caution or delay travel. For more information, please visit ADOT’s Transportation Safety page.

Dust and wind must make for some good poetic inspiration, because we’ve received so many outstanding Haboob Haikus!

This year’s submissions really have showcased the clever creativity of all you poets out there.

We thank you for helping us to spread the message and we hope you’ll continue to tell your friends and family why it’s so important to “Pull Aside, Stay Alive.”

We’ll continue to keep you updated on driving conditions and the dangers of dust storms. You can monitor travel conditions by calling 511, or by visiting www.az511.gov. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates. And, don’t forget you can find all our dust storm safety driving tips at PullAsideStayAlive.org.

Now, back to those haikus…

We want to share a sample of the Haboob Haikus from this year (it was too hard to pick a favorite!).

• Powerful nature / bad impairment of vision/ Stay off of the road!
• Look! A big haboob / I'll speed up and outrun it… / BOOM! I'm such a boob
• Sunset looking good / until Pig Pen’s cloud appears / Good grief, pull aside
• Sand from the desert / an oppressive wind blowing / Pull over and live
• Don't drive into me / Pull over and all lights off / Drive home when dust clears
• Haboob hijacks you / Don't make it mad. Stop and wait / Patience beats haboobs
• Haboobs are dusty / so pull aside stay alive / then go wash your car!
• Clear and sunny day / Oh man...that's a lot of dust! / Pull over, lights off!

Did you have a favorite #HaboobHaiku this year? Let us know in the comments your No. 1 choice. And, if you haven't yet, we invite you to participate in ADOT's new online dust storm survey.

Are you ready for Monsoon season?

It starts this Sunday and brings with it the increased chance of high winds, blowing dust and other conditions that can really impact your drive.

Knowing what to do when a dust storm hits is vital, which is why we want to again remind everyone of our “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” message.

The importance of that message is certainly apparent in the powerful video above, in which you’ll hear a first-hand account of just how quickly conditions can change when a dust storm is on the horizon.

We want to make sure you’re prepared, so we invite you to review these safety tips (you can also find them on PullAsideStayAlive.org):

• Avoid driving into or through a dust storm.
• Do not wait until poor visibility makes it difficult to safely pull off the roadway -- do it as soon as possible. Completely exit the highway if you can.
• If you encounter a dust storm, check traffic immediately around your vehicle (front, back and to the side) and begin slowing down.
• Do not stop in a travel lane or in the emergency lane; look for a safe place to pull completely off the paved portion of the roadway.
• Stop the vehicle in a position ensuring it is a safe distance from the main roadway and away from where other vehicles may travel.
• Turn off all vehicle lights, including your emergency flashers.
• Set your emergency brake and take your foot off the brake.
• Stay in the vehicle with your seatbelts buckled and wait for the storm to pass.
• Drivers of high-profile vehicles should be especially aware of changing weather conditions and travel at reduced speeds.

DPS Officer Carrick Cook says it best in the video above...

“It’s decisions to go into dust storms that cause those types of crashes and we’re trying to encourage motorists to not even enter it – don’t even run the risk,” he says. “People that continue to go through a dust storm, knowing that it’s there, are recklessly doing that. Zero visibility is the worst-case scenario. There’s no reasonable speed, when you can’t see.”

For more information on dust storms, please visit PullAsideStayAlive.org and check out some of our previous blog posts. We also want to invite you to participate in our dust storm online survey.

As always, drivers planning trips are urged to monitor travel conditions by calling 511, or by visiting www.az511.gov. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Stay safe and remember to Pull Aside, Stay Alive!

If you’ve got 17 syllables to spare, we want to hear from you because #HaboobHaiku is back!

This is the one and only contest (as far as we know) to mix an ancient form of poetry with dust storm safety – the results are always entertaining and educational.

In its third year now, the #HaboobHaiku challenge is designed to reinforce ADOT’s public safety message urging drivers to avoid driving into or through a dust storm. Drivers are instead encouraged to pull off the roadway and wait out a dust storm, rather than trying to drive with reduced or zero visibility (see more driving tips here).

You can read in detail why we #HaboobHaiku in this blog post from last year and you’ll see that our main focus each year is to get people talking about the dangers of driving in dust storms. By building awareness about dust storm safety and our “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” message, we hope more drivers will know what to do when that next dust storm hits.

So, are you in? Will you help us spread the word on dust storm safety by coming up with your very own Haboob Haiku? All you have to do is share it with us on Twitter (don’t forget the #HaboobHaiku hashtag and be sure to mention @ArizonaDOT, so we see your poem) or on our Facebook page or even here in the blog comments.

How to Haboob Haiku

Haiku is a type of poetry that conforms to a certain syllable structure. These poems traditionally written in three lines – the first line consists of five syllables, the second line has seven and the third ends with five.

Usually these poems can be on any subject, but for #HaboobHaiku, we want you to focus on monsoons, dust storms and our safety message: Pull Aside, Stay Alive.

You can get some inspiration from our previous dust storm safety blog posts, or you can watch the video above to see top #HaboobHaikus from last year as voted on by the public.

Here are some of our favorites from past years:

• You’re not a Jedi / This is not Tatooine, Luke / Pull over now, man
• Oh snap, crackle, pop / Dust has you blind, pull over/ Or you’ll want to cry
• Dust blows, swirls and grows / Roadways become danger zones/ Pull over, lights off

We can’t wait to see what you come up with this year!

It’s that time of year again.

We’re headed into monsoon season, which means motorists need to be on alert. High winds, blowing dust and other conditions that can impact your drive are more common this time of year.

If you’ve been following us for the past few seasons, you already know the drill…

ADOT works to raise awareness on the subject and urges drivers to take extra safety precautions. We also get the word out when a dust storm is happening through social media, 511 and overhead message boards.

We’ll have more dust storm content for you this week (including a new video and the return of our #HaboobHaiku challenge!), but for now we want to leave you with some safety tips that we hope you’ll read and share with your friends, family and co-workers.

Motorists play an important role in their own safety and the safety of others when operating their vehicles during a dust storm. Here are some driving tips to remember when encountering a low- or no-visibility dust storm:

• Avoid driving into or through a dust storm.
• Do not wait until poor visibility makes it difficult to safely pull off the roadway -- do it as soon as possible. Completely exit the highway if you can.
• If you encounter a dust storm, check traffic immediately around your vehicle (front, back and to the side) and begin slowing down.
• Do not stop in a travel lane or in the emergency lane; look for a safe place to pull completely off the paved portion of the roadway.
• Stop the vehicle in a position ensuring it is a safe distance from the main roadway and away from where other vehicles may travel.
• Turn off all vehicle lights, including your emergency flashers.
• Set your emergency brake and take your foot off the brake.
• Stay in the vehicle with your seatbelts buckled and wait for the storm to pass.
• Drivers of high-profile vehicles should be especially aware of changing weather conditions and travel at reduced speeds.

A driver’s alertness and safe driving ability is still the number one factor to prevent crashes.

As always, drivers planning trips are urged to monitor travel conditions by calling 511, or by visiting www.az511.gov.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter and check out our dust storm safety website at pullasidestayalive.org.

Monsoon season doesn’t officially start until June, but try telling that to Mother Nature...

We’ve already experienced a few early dust storms and there’s no way of knowing too far in advance when dry and windy conditions will whip up another.

That’s why we’re bringing you today’s public service announcement. Consider it a sneak peek of our upcoming “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” campaign (yes, we’re planning to bring back the #HaboobHaiku!).

For now, please watch the video above, check out PullAsideStayAlive.org and review these tips for drivers who encounter a dust storm:

• Avoid driving into or through a dust storm.
• If you encounter a dust storm, check traffic immediately around your vehicle (front, back and to the side) and begin slowing down.
• Do not wait until poor visibility makes it difficult to safely pull off the roadway — do it as soon as possible. Completely exit the highway if you can.
• Do not stop in a travel lane or in the emergency lane; look for a safe place to pull completely off the paved portion of the roadway.
• Stop the vehicle in a position ensuring it is a safe distance from the main roadway and away from where other vehicles may travel.
• Turn off all vehicle lights, including your emergency flashers.
• Set your emergency brake and take your foot off the brake.
• Stay in the vehicle with your seatbelts buckled and wait for the storm to pass.
• Drivers of high-profile vehicles should be especially aware of changing weather conditions and travel at reduced speeds.
• A driver’s alertness and safe driving ability are always the top factors in preventing crashes.

For even more information on dust storm safety, re-visit some of our previous posts.

Strong winds and blowing dust rolled through the state yesterday, reminding us that motorists in Arizona must always be ready to “Pull Aside, Stay Alive.”

And, judging from these photographs, that has always been the case…

Taken in 1979 at 19th Avenue and the Salt River in Phoenix, these pictures show an area before and during a pretty intense-looking dust storm.

Notice how the arrow sign and guardrail are clearly visible in the top two photos, but cannot be seen in the bottom photo where the dust storm has reduced visibility to almost zero?

Here we are, 34 years later, and drivers still face dangerous dust storms on the road.

While the ADOT Blog wasn’t around to remind drivers of what to do when encountering a low-visibility storm back in 1979, we’re here now and thought we’d share these dust storm driving tips:

• Avoid driving into or through a dust storm.
• If you encounter a dust storm, check traffic immediately around your vehicle (front, back and to the side) and begin slowing down.
• Do not wait until poor visibility makes it difficult to safely pull off the roadway — do it as soon as possible. Completely exit the highway if you can, away from where other vehicles may travel.
• Do not stop in a travel lane or in the emergency lane; look for a safe place to pull completely off the paved portion of the roadway.
• Turn off all vehicle lights, including your emergency flashers.
• Set your emergency brake and take your foot off the brake.
• Stay in the vehicle with your seat-belts buckled and wait for the storm to pass.
• Drivers of high-profile vehicles should be especially aware of changing weather conditions and travel at reduced speeds.
• Be alert that any storm can cause power outages to overhead roadway lighting and traffic signals. Drive with caution and treat all intersections without signals as having stop signs in all directions.

For more information and driving tips, please visit PullAsideStayAlive.org.

Who says safety messages have to be humorless or uninteresting?

Not us and certainly not anyone out there who has taken part in Haboob Haiku: Year Two!

Not only have you turned in some really inspired poetry that’s fun to read, but you’ve helped us spread the important “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” message for a second year in a row.

Safety is of course the main reason why we #HaboobHaiku, but as we stated last year, we hope that by building public awareness through social media you’ll continue to help us spread our messages when a dust storm (or any road closure/emergency) hits.

We’ll remind you one more time that you can find dust storm safety tips, videos and more on our website, PullAsideStayAlive.org.

OK ... now on to those haikus!

We read all of them and narrowed it down to our favorites. Today, we’re asking you to help us choose this year’s top #HaboobHaiku.

Voting ends Wednesday, June 26. We’ll announce the winner next Friday (like last year, we don’t have any prizes to offer – the winner will just have major bragging rights)!

*After you've selected your favorite #HaboobHaiku in the survey below, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the poll and click, "Done.

Thank you for voting! This survey is now closed.