Traffic is one constant of life in Austin. But every so often, there鈥檚 something that breaks the monotony of brake lights: a sign reminding you that "You鈥檙e not a candle, so don鈥檛 drive lit" or "Designate a driver BE-VO the game."
鈥淎round the holidays, there鈥檚 some sort of pun that they do,鈥� Evan Hearn, an Austin resident and UT student, said. 鈥淣o offense to the guy, but they鈥檙e really lame, sort of, dad puns that they do.鈥�
Hearn wanted to know who's behind the signs using humor to remind drivers to be safe on the roads, so he asked our to find out.
"Their funny little messages make me laugh on my commute," he wrote.
On the big highways, it鈥檚 someone from the Texas Department of Transportation. On toll roads, it could be someone from the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. On city streets like Lamar Boulevard or Cesar Chavez Street, it鈥檚 a team from the City of Austin.
Engineer Joshil Bhatpuria is on that team. He鈥檚 not a dad, but he鈥檚 proud of his dad jokes.
鈥淚 enjoy [coming up with them], but sometimes my co-workers get a little bit tired of it and just retreat to their corner,鈥� Bhatpuria said. 鈥淥nly the best reach the signs, I would say 鈥� or worst. It depends on how you define it.鈥�
Thankfully, he doesn鈥檛 always have the final say; it鈥檚 a group effort.
鈥淲e would come up with something simple that everybody understands, like a Drake reference or Matthew McConaughey reference, and then from there we would just come up with a rhyme, or something quick," Bhatpuria said. "A 15-word reference that would also stick the memory in their head."
RELATED |
Once the team comes up with an idea, the message goes into a central communication system and then onto the more than a dozen signs the city controls. The messages can even be customized for certain parts of Austin.
Coming up with messages may be harder than it sounds. In 2017, the city asked people to come up with their own signs, and , hundreds more were rejected, including: 鈥淐ars don鈥檛 cuddle, leave some room鈥� and 鈥淓veryone yearns for signaled turns.鈥�
But Bhatpuria's boss, Jen Duthie, said it鈥檚 not always fun and games. The signs display serious messages, like recent signs aimed at reducing traffic fatalities. Duthie says even the signs with jokes actually serve a serious purpose: They remind people the signs are there.
鈥淪o we do get questions sometimes, you know, why are we putting these somewhat silly messages up there," she said. "But they always have a key point that we're trying to get across.鈥�
Even if you haven鈥檛 eaten at El Arroyo on West Fifth Street, you probably know the restaurant's other claim to fame: funny signs. And employees there apparently felt Bhatpuria and the other road sign artists were edging in on their turf.
They devoted one of their daily signs to try to figure out who the intern was who was "trying to steal our marquee thunder."
鈥淚 was just minorly offended, because on the one hand, I was like 鈥� I鈥檓 not a TxDOT intern; I work with signals. I鈥檓 an engineer,鈥� Bhatpuria said. 鈥淥n the other hand, I was like 鈥� Hey, I got featured on the El Arroyo marquee a little bit, so I鈥檒l take that as a win.鈥�
RELATED |
After learning the method behind the madness, Hearn also thinks the signs are a win. He says the humor helps people get the message about bad driving behaviors like speeding or blocking intersections.
鈥淲e can agree, objectively, that people who block the box are the worst kind of people,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o maybe by seeing the sign, they will rethink what they鈥檙e doing, so that鈥檚 actually sort of impactful in the real-world situation.鈥�
Got a tip? Email Your Name at samuel@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter
If you found the reporting above valuable, please to support it. Your gift pays for everything you find on KUT.org. Thanks for donating today._
Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxODQzOTgwMDEyMTcyNjI4MTAxYWQyMw004))