The fun and humorous freeway signs are here to stay
Looking back at some of the signs ADOT put on Arizona freeways since 2015.
From Taylor Swift lyrics to “Hamilton” and referencing peas in guacamole to sports teams, the Arizona Department of Transportation has had a lot of fun with freeway signs displayed throughout the state.
Republican lawmakers, who appear to not know how to have fun, wanted to take away one of the small pleasures of driving on Arizona’s freeways with their partisan HB2586.
That is until Gov. Katie Hobbs brought out her handy veto pen and rejected the bill on April 5.
The bill of course was because many Republican lawmakers, who since 2020 have downplayed the Covid pandemic which has claimed the lives of more than 33,000 Arizonans (and their likely constituents), were still upset over the signs telling Arizonans to mask up and get the vaccine, which many of those same Republicans fought hard against due to their anti-vaccine status1.
Dem Senator Juan Mendez hit the nail on the head about why the signs are enjoyable.
“They really make a commute more bearable," he said.
I asked ADOT for a list of their fun messages they’ve displayed on highways since 2015 and since it’s Friday wanted to write about them so you all could have a little chuckle.
Let me know in the comments which one is your favorite. There are a lot to choose from.
Country Thunder, April 7-10
Designate a driver before you fill up your red party cup
Pokemon Go, July 13-14
Pokemon Go is a no-go when driving
Star Wars, Dec. 14-20 (this was when The Force Awakens was released)
Aggressive driving is the path to the dark side
Trust the Force but always buckle up
2016
Star Trek, July 21-23
Drive Sober, live long and prosper
Scotty can't beam you up so drive safely
Halloween, Oct. 29-31
Mummy knows best. Wrap yourself in a seat belt.
Thanksgiving, Nov. 23-27
Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel
Mash potatoes not your head. Buckle up.
Gobble, gobble, go easy on the throttle
Rogue One, Dec. 15-18
Don’t turn your car into a death star drive focused
Join the rebellion against distracted driving
Christmas, Dec. 22-25
Aggressive drivers belong on island of misfit toys
Seat belts: Gifts that give the entire year
No speeding in the 7 levels of the candy cane forest
Yes Arizona there is a seat belt law, buckle up
New Years, Dec. 30-Jan. 2, 2017
We've got a fever & the only cure is sober drivers
Just buzzed? Nice try that's a DUI
New year, new you, use a blinker
2017
Daylight Saving Time, March 11-12
Arizona doesn’t spring forward, we buckle up
Safety Message Contest winners, April 21-24
That’s the temperature, not the speed limit
Single in HOV? Get a real date, not a court date
Concerts, Aug. 4-6
(Metallica) Arrive alive, nothing else matters
(Neil Diamond) Buckled up? So good! So good! So good!
(Ed Sheeran) "I'm in love with the shape of you" so buckle up
Star Wars: Last Jedi, Dec. 14-16
Focused driving / is the way of / the jedi
Join the / rebellion / use your signal
2018
Hamilton, Jan. 30
Talk less / drive more
Taylor Swift, May 8 (Reputation Tour; ADOT reused the first sign for her more recent Eras Tour… ADOT also appears to be biased towards 19892)
Cut off? / Don't get bad blood / shake it off
Unbuckled? / Nightmare driving/ in a daydream
Solo: A Star Wars Movie, May 24
Solo in HOV? We have a bad / feeling about this
Soccer match, July 19
Defensive driving / is the / gooooooooal!
Shania Twain, July 30
Buckled up? / That don’t / impress me much
Designated driver? / That don’t / impress me much
Driving safely? / That don’t / impress me much
Beyonce, Sept. 19
Crazy in love / With drivers who / Use turn signals
2019
Elton John, Jan. 26
Saturday night’s / Alright for a / Designated driver
Billy Joel concert, March 9
No need to be / a big shot / drive safely
Use a seat belt / we love you just / the way you are
Paul McCartney concert, June 26
Ob-la-di ob-la-da / life goes on / if you slow down
A long & winding / road needs / alert drivers
2020
Hanukkah, Dec. 10
Slow down or / you’ll spin / like a dreidel
2023
Taylor Swift, March 17-18
Cut off? / don’t get bad blood / shake it off
Reckless driver? / you need to / calm down (ADOT reached its Lover Era)
See all 15 pages of freeway signs here.
A lot of Republicans of course wore masks and have likely been vaccinated, but because none of them seem to have a backbone, they won’t kill any of their own party’s bills even if they may disagree with the contents or know Hobbs may veto it.
Personally I would have chosen something like “speeding is bad/ isn’t it? isn’t it?/isn’t it? or don’t let/ reckless driving/ be your end game or even looking at your phone/ while driving?/ this is why we can’t have nice things