Would Humor Hit Home in the War Against Texting While Driving?

Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) February 8, 2017 – Nebraska is piloting a new approach to get drivers to pay attention to highway safety messages. If it works, perhaps Texas might want to implement a similar approach.

Highway employees in Nebraska have come up with a novel approach to getting the attention of drivers — which may or may not be a good thing, since getting their attention also means they are driving distracted while looking at new safety messages. The new approach involves using humor and current pop culture references. Iowa and several other states have similar initiatives of bringing motorists safety tips while they are on the road.

One of Nebraska’s summer campaigns, posted on state message boards spanning I-80, read: “Don’t Pokemon and drive.” Not too many drivers would expect to see a gaming reference on their daily commute to work. More recently the latest message made reference to the newest Star Wars movie and told drivers, “Reckless driving is on the path to the dark side.” The safety messages are changed every Friday and have become fairly popular, not to mention memorable.

Keeping the messages fresh, relevant and trendy is likely to garner a driver’s attention faster than the standard safety message of “Don’t Drink and Drive.” Over time, the usual safety messages become a part of the roadside scenery. Therefore, when “creepy clowns” were making the headlines, the road crews in Nebraska put up a safety message that read: “Don’t be a clown, put the phone down.”

The goal of the safety messages is to promote positive behaviors among drivers. The messages on the information boards encourage seatbelt and signal use, and discourage texting while driving.

Although the roadside signs have a price tag of approximately $250,000, it appears they are effective in getting out memorable safety messages. “Something that might fly quite well in Texas,” said Austin DWI plaintiff attorney, Bobby Lee.

To learn more, visit http://www.lgrlawfirm.com

Lee, Gober & Reyna
11940 Jollyville Road #220-S
Austin, Texas 78759
Phone: 512.478.8080

• Corpus Christie police effectively coped with DWI offenders during the holiday season
  Even though the Corpus Christie Police Department (CCPD) put extra manpower on duty for the holiday season, they are a police department that continually works to reduce the number of drunk driving accidents. This year they had the financial assistance of the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) and received the Impaired Driving Mobilization (IDM) grant to have more officers on duty. Of course, DWI is not just a seasonal issue, but it is a daily problem. However, the highest rate of fatal DWI accidents tend to happen over the holidays. The years 2012 and 2013 saw between 1,203 and 1,036 […]
• CellSlip allows drivers to keep phones on while driving, but block incoming communications
  Many smartphone-addicted individuals cannot or will not turn their phones off when they are driving, knowing it is not a safe. A new invention, however, might diminish texting while driving. The invention is called CellSlip and its simplicity makes it appealing. It is a bright red nylon slip-on sleeve reinforced with a conductive fabric that blocks radio frequencies. Thanks to the sleeve, the phone cannot ring with its various notifications of incoming texts, Facebook posts, Twitter tweets and phone calls. Once the slip sleeve is removed, all notifications pop on. Creator Mitch Bain, a software engineer, said that even though […]
• Drunk or sleep deprived? Both are deadly
  Driving while drunk and driving while sleep deprived are equally dangerous, study finds A new study, released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAA), indicates that a drowsy driver, with fewer than five hours of sleep, has a crash risk comparable to a drunk driver with a blood alcohol content at or higher than the legal limit. The study also revealed that sleep deprivation increases accident risk. According to the study, those who clip 1 to 2 hours off of the standard recommended 7-hour sleep stretch double the chances of being involved in a wreck. The finding of AAA’s […]
• Young drivers have more accidents due to risky driving behavior
  Younger drivers, who do not have a lot of driving experience, exhibit more risky driving behavior than older, experienced drivers. Inexperience and distracted driving together cause accident rates to escalate exponentially. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for those 16 to 19-years-old. Mobile technology has many advantages if used properly, but it causes major distractions for drivers who need to be concentrating on the road and not on the screen of their smartphone. Anything that takes a driver’s attention and focus off the road can lead to an accident. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention […]
• Are billboards a driving distraction?
  Those who sell digital signboard space want more roadside billboards to capture the attention of drivers. Those who have seen drivers get into accidents as a result of distracted sign watching disagree. Digital billboard proponents say the signboards need to be plentiful in the largest cities in Texas because they attract more customers for local businesses. However, law enforcement, who see many accidents resulting from distracted driving due to looking at billboards, disagree with adding more to the cityscape. While there are billboards in some Texas cities, digital sign distractions are banned in Austin, Houston and Fort Worth. San Antonio […]