Authored By seanphippster

Have you ever looked up at one of those safety message displays and thought, “I could do better than that.” Well, now is your chance to shine.

For the third year, the Tennessee Department of Transportation is asking the general public to submit clever messages to highlight highway safety.

Submissions will be collected through Feb. 10. Following a vetting process, a collection of nominated messages will be made available for public voting Feb. 21 to March 7.

The winning messages will be displayed on TDOT’s dynamic messaging signs along the interstate system throughout the year.

Click here to submit your highway messages.

This year, TDOT is seeking messages in five categories: speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving, seat belts and aggressive driving.

Although topical messages related to current events are allowed, the content cannot be specific. An example would be when the new “Star Wars” film was released. “Drinking and driving is the path to the dark side” was used on the boards. However, the movie title or celebrity names were not mentioned.

More than 3,000 entries were collected in the 2016 contest. Fifteen messages were nominated as potential winners.

In 2016, the winning message was “turn signals, the original instant messaging.” The 2015 winner was “texting while driving, oh cell no.” Other messages you may have seen include “get the cell off your phone and drive!” and “practice safe texts; don’t do it while driving.”

Other nominees included “Bob doesn’t speed-be like Bob,” “ain’t nobody got time-for a wreck-slow it down,” and “alcohol you later; don’t drink and drive.”