MassDOT is implementing new phrases on highway signs like "Wear yah seatbelt," one of the winners of a Massachusetts Department of Transportation contest announced Tuesday.
In May, MassDOT starting using the phrase "Use Yah Blinkah" on I-93 highway signs, which went viral on social media.
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The next month, the state agency asked for more suggestions via social media using #DOTspeak for other phrases to get drivers to be more safe.
On Tuesday,
MassDOT announced on their website the winners of three additional phrases, saying the messages will be displayed during busy travel periods throughout the rest of the year. The winners were chosen from 500 entries posted on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and via email.
The winner in the “Road Rage” category was Patrick Casey, of Allston, Massachusetts, for “Keep Calm and Drive On.” Justin Lovell of Whitman, Massachusetts, won in the “Distracted Driving” category for “Put down the phone! Your LOLs and OMGs can wait.” The Parent’s Supervised Driving Program team of Safe Roads Alliance won in the “Seatbelt Use” category for “Make yah Ma proud, wear yah seatbelt.”
According to a June article in Boston Magazine, the photo of the “Use Yah Blinkah” electronic sign going viral on social media was the intent of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
“The national attention and viral nature of a simple message that encouraged motorists to follow the law and signal when changing lanes cannot be denied,”
Secretary of MassDOT Richard Davey said in June, Boston magazine reported. “We are hoping to hear your creative (DOT Speak) ideas and together help stop bad behavior from happening behind the wheel.”
The contest rules included requirements that entries “may use local vernacular or contain common texting abbreviations,” no profanity, messages needed to be able to fit on highway signs and the message had to use two panels, with three lines per panel and at least eight characters per line.
“With the ‘Use Yah Blinkah’ sign, we got people’s attention,” MassDOT Highway Administrator Frank DePaola said in a statement Tuesday. “By changing the routine messages, we hope to bring a new light to important public safety messages that sometimes may be overlooked.”
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