ITD posting messages to encourage safe driving

Driving along Idaho’s major highways, drivers might notice a message along one of the state’s electronic message boards. Most of the time the boards are blank, but the Idaho Transportation Department says that will be changing.

“Traditionally we’ve used these overhead reader boards to provide messages on road conditions, on traffic flow, and on Amber Alerts,” said Bruce King of ITD. However, starting in May, drivers will see more messages encouraging safe driving.

The push comes after ITD found that drivers reacted positively to certain messages. Two big ones were “Your family would miss you, please slow down,” and “You would be missed, please slow down.”
King said ITD has seen drivers slow down after these signs, and that’s good news.

“We’re encouraged by that, so we’re going to be doing some testing in May and later this summer to identify what messages really encourage drivers, and help them really consider and improve their driving habits,” said King.