MDOT's 'My Maine Sign' contest nears the finish line
Courtesy / Maine Department of Transportation
Some of the entries in the Maine Department of Transportation 'My Maine Sign contest. Voting continues online at MDOT's website until April 30.
Online voting opened Friday on the Maine Department of Transportation’s safety sign contest on the 60 best messages selected by the department out of nearly 2,000 submissions submitted by the March 18 deadline.
Voting continues through April 30. Those selected for the public vote “are funny, smart and clever dealing with safety subjects such as distracted driving, speeding, tailgating, impairment, even eating while driving.”
“Any of those 60 may appear on the highway signs in the future,” the department said on its website.
The public can vote at www.mainedot.gov , giving a red light, yellow light or green light on each selection.
Those that made the final cut include the straightforward lecture:
- “Put down your cell/Or you may end up in one.”
- “Spring is here/Look for deer”
Puns:
- “Speeding to the beach?/Oh shell no!”
Appeals to sports fans:
- “Be like Brady/Keep your head in the game”
And those with a special Maine flavor:
- “A cold suppah’s bettah/Than a hot ticket!”
The My Maine Sign contest began because the department got so much feedback on its safety messages to motorists, a program that begin in 2016.
"At one point we had to open it up to the public," spokesman Ted Talbot said in March.
The grand finalist in each category — small sign and large sign — will get a street sign with their name on it, made in the MDOT's sign shop.
Signs also will include passes to the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory, Gray Animal Park and to Maine state parks.
Talbot said the humorous tone gets more attention than a more serious one does.
"People appreciate the fact that you don't have to wag a finger," he said. "The old 'buckle up' or 'don't drink and drive,' those are fine, but having a little bit of humor is effective."
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