TxDOT News

Enter contest to get your clever traffic message on Texas highways

This one's already taken.

Nebraska.gov

TxDOT has been very busy with highway signs, recently posting clever messages on digital message boards that encourage safer driving.

Now they are launching a statewide "Digital Highway Sign Contest" and are soliciting entries.

They're seeking creative safe-driving messages related to the following themes:

impaired driving (drunk or drugged driving)
distracted driving (texting while driving)
not wearing seatbelts and/or speeding

These are the deadliest mistakes drivers make on Texas roadways, according to a release.

Like many transportation agencies across the country, TxDOT has as of late been posting messages related to current events and pop culture, sometimes humorous. Some of their recent entries include:

Baby yoda uses a car seat / Be safe he will
Gobble gobble / go easy on the throttle
Feast your eyes on the road / drive safely

So that gives you a little clue as to what you're up against.

The contest runs from November 24-December 8, and there's no limit to the number of entries you can submit.

The top 10 entries will be posted on social media and voted on by the public. (A "like" or "share" = one point.)

The agency will run the top three winning messages in signs across the state.

Signs accommodate 2 slides, each with 3 lines and up to 15 characters per line. Feel free to use both slides (6 lines) or just one slide (3 lines).

The message must bring awareness to the dangers of common driver mistakes such as distracted driving, impaired driving, not using seat belts, speeding, no tailgating, and left lane for passing only.

Hashtags, phone numbers, and website addresses are not allowed, and no offensive language.

To submit an entry, visit TxDOT.gov.

TxDOT is not the first or only transportation agency to host such a contest; Massachusetts, among others, ran a similar contest in 2014.

transportation traffic

Airline mayhem

Passenger who was duct taped on Milwaukee-to-Dallas flight arrested

Courtesy photo

Duct tape

An unruly man who was duct-taped by fellow passengers on a flight from Milwaukee to Dallas has been charged for assaulting a flight attendant.

According to a release from U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton, Abdul-al-Jabbar Oloruntoba Olaiya, 29, was charged via criminal complaint with interfering with a flight crew by assault or intimidation within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.

Olaiya injured a flight attendant in an attempt to exit the plane mid-air.

According to court documents, on November 19, roughly two hours into the flight from Milwaukee to Dallas, Olaiya became frustrated with the flight attendant as she worked the forward galley.

Witnesses told law enforcement they heard Olaiya say he was “captain of this flight” and needed to “get off the plane.”

He then allegedly charged the flight attendant in an attempt to access the aircraft exit door. The flight attendant, identified in court documents as S.J., used her body to shield the door and was injured in the scuffle.

Other passengers rushed to assist, tackling Olaiya and duct-taping his wrists and ankles, then keeping him subdued for the rest of the flight. With only 30 minutes left, the pilots continued to DFW, calling the tower for priority landing and taxing. The incident made national news.

Once they landed, Olaiya was removed from the plane by officers and taken in for a mental evaluation. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Department of Public Safety conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Levi Thomas is prosecuting the case.

transportation