As excitement for the new βStar Warsβ movie grows, the Arizona Department of Transportation is tapping into the Force to engage drivers about highway safety.
βAggressive driving is the path to the Dark Sideβ read an electronic message board over Arizona highways Thursday morning. Another recent addition told drivers to βTrust the Force but always buckle up,β with an accompanying tweet from ADOT reading: βYoung Luke Skywalker wore his seat belt. Be a safe Jedi like Luke.β
The messages reflect a years-long effort by ADOT director John Halikowski to use message boards and social media to βgo outside the box and keep the conversation goingβ on safety issues, said department spokesman Doug Nintzel.
That effort was aided by the hiring of former reporters as public information officers a few years ago, Nintzel said. The new staffers used their skills in writing headlines to fit catchy phrases in the limited space offered by message boards.
One of the early indicators of how effective ADOTβs social media presence could be came in January when a public information officer was looking for a still photo to show road conditions on Arizona 260 east of Payson, Nintzel said. The photo he chose included snow-covered bushes resembling a family of Sasquatches and the image went viral on social media.
ADOT worked with the Governorβs Office of Highway Safety to come up with βDrive hammered, get nailed,β which is widely used throughout the stateβs more than 200 message boards, he said.
The department also took cues from its counterpart in Iowa, he said. Signs from the Iowa departmentβs βMessage Mondaysβ include βGet your head out of your apps. Drive safelyβ and βYour mom called. Are you buckled?β
The current βStar Warsβ-themed campaign grew out of ideas proposed by ADOT public information officers, Nintzel said.
βWe asked for ideas from the staff and, as with any office, youβre going to have those who are really into βStar Wars,ββ he said.
The Maricopa County Department of Transportation also appears to have adopted the use of humorous βStar Warsβ-themed messages.
The department posted a tweet Wednesday with a photo of a road-work truck bearing the sign βJedi at work.β
The reaction by Arizona drivers to the humorous public awareness campaigns has been βoverwhelmingly positiveβ and will continue long after βStar Warsβ mania has faded, Nintzel said.
Photos of the message boards posted by ADOT on its Twitter account, which has more followers than all state transportation departments except Washington, were seen about 25,000 times.
Photos on the departmentβs Facebook account reached 180,000 people, he said.
βStar Warsβ is not the only popular-culture item ADOT has used on message boards. Last month, an ADOT public information officer picked up on the controversy created the New York Times when the newspaper suggested adding peas to guacamole.
βIt caused quite a stir among folks who really take their guacamole seriously,β Nintzel said.
The department decided to tie the controversy into a public safety message.
The resulting sign read: βDrinking and driving go together like peas and guac.β