These signs ooze Jersey attitude.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation is turning heads with sassy and sarcastic ads reminding motorists to drive safe.
“Nice car,” one of the roadside electronic messages begins.
“Did it come with a turn signal?” it then snarks.
Another offers a punny take on legalized marijuana: “We’ll be blunt, don’t drive high.”
One message mocks, “Get your heads out of your apps,” while a Halloween missive declares, “Hocus pocus, drive with focus.”
The witty reminders come amid a grave rise in traffic accidents over the past three years. NJ State Police reported 564 fatalities through Oct. 20, compared to 542 in all of 2021 and 454 in 2020, according to data.
“We are trying a few new messages that are both fun and catchy in hopes that people will remember the message and drive safely,” said NJDOT spokesperson Leanna Nelson.
Motorist Jeff Jotz, 52, said that after seeing one of the signs while driving down to the Jersey Shore last weekend, he actually put his phone down and kept his eyes on the road. “I worked in government my whole career, and we’re generally boring people,” Jotz said. “When something like this happens, it makes you perk up and grabs your attention.”
The quips are proving a little too effective at times.
Nelson pleaded for drivers not to take pictures of the variable message signs while driving, while NJDOT even tweeted this threat: “If you keep taking photos of the VMS boards while driving we will turn this car around and go back to the old messages.”