For many drivers, the tiny letters on a cell phone screen can be an irresistible siren call. But one Colonie Central High School senior hopes his larger-than-life message will take their focus off of distracted driving.
That message: “It can wait,” and every driver passing a billboard at the corner of Central Avenue and Route 155 will see it.
“A few of my friends do text and drive and I try to get them to stop,” Josh Murphy, 17, said. “It causes a lot of accidents and affects a lot of people.”
Murphy’s slogan “Don’t Text and Drive – It Can Wait” and an image of the iconic iPhone text message symbol was chosen as the winning design for an anti-distracted driving billboard contest sponsored by the CCHS Art Department and Lamar Graphics. Murphy gathered with his classmates from Christine Festin’s Digital Photography class and Justin Defazzio’s Merchandising and Design class on Thursday, May 23, for a surprise unveiling of the winner’s design on the 49-by-15-foot billboard.
“I’m surprised. I didn’t know if I was going to win or not,” Murphy said.
Lamar Graphics chose the winning design and paid the $1,700 cost of producing the billboard’s artwork.
“It’s clean. It’s simple,” Vice President/General Manager of Lamar Graphics Matt Duddy said. “With a billboard design, people driving by you need to have a clean, quick-hitting message that people identify with. I think the image … everybody can relate to at this day and age. Instantly, you’re attracted to that.”
A surprised Murphy, who plans to study graphic design at Alfred University next fall, said the slogan just came to him. Murphy created the iPhone message image in Adobe Illustrator.
“It was the first thing I thought of. I hope it saves lives and helps other people not text and drive,” Murphy said, adding that he makes it a point to not text and drive.
Over the past month, about 35 students in both classes worked on the assignment to create a poster design for the campaign with a slogan and artwork. Students learned all about billboards, including how motorists need to see and understand a message within only seven seconds. Students also participated in simulated distracted driving exercises as well as learning different statistics on the dangers of texting and driving.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drivers who use cell phones are four times more likely to get into a car accident serious enough to injure themselves. Text messaging also creates a crash risk 23 times worse than non-distracted driving.
“It takes your hand, takes your brain. There’s so much of yourself focused on the phone that there’s not enough to focus on driving,” Festin said. “Everybody does it (but don’t) realize the dangers.”
The billboard’s busy intersection sees about 71,000 motorists daily, and the billboard will be up for the next four weeks. Duddy said the material is designed to last at least a year and they will continue to use Murphy’s design to fill unsold, open billboards.
Last spring, the school sponsored a similar contest focusing on drinking and driving. Senior Emily Himmelwright’s billboard, “Driving Hammered Will Get You Nailed,” had a car turned on its side with a nail hammered through its roof. That design, Duddy said, was used in several locations over the period of four to five months last year.
“(We want to) give the students a chance to make an impression on the community,” Duddy said. “Change people’s habits, make people more aware. Give (students) some experience of what happens outside of the classroom to showcase their talents.”
Festin said she hopes her students will have learned from this campaign and will help spread the word on distracted driving.
“We want our kids to be advocates to go out and say, ‘Yeah, you can’t do this,’” Festin said. “If we teach the kids now … they learn not to do it.”