Science

'Get Your Head out of Your Apps' Sign Angers Mormons in Utah

Utah's Department of Transportation is promoting safety in unorthodox ways. 

by Sam Blum
Utah Department of Transportation Twitter

Utah’s Department of Transportation is fighting the scourge of inattention that plagues highways. And it’s doing it with more sass than might strictly be necessary.

Some new signs dotting the state’s thoroughfares beckon drivers to turn their gaze away from mobile gadgets with the warning: “Get your head out of your apps.”

According to local media reports, motorists in the country’s most Mormon state found the pun-hawking sign bewildering and kind of divisive. While 8 percent of respondents in a poll conducted by Utah’s DOT found the sign “offensive,” a Salt Lake City NBC Affiliate’s Facebook post linking to the story sparked a feisty dialogue.

The post has drawn more than 3,000 comments, all of which clash over the sign’s cheeky warning and whether or not it’s truly worth strong feelings of any kind.

Still, this isn’t the first time a state in the middle of the country has tried to compel motorists to attention by way of snark.

Earlier this year, authorities in Colorado pulled the exact same stunt on their highways, although the event didn’t exactly reach the viral heights accrued by the sign in Utah.

Denver seemed mostly to get a laugh out of it, and maybe saw the bigger picture here, proving that some people already have their heads out of their apps.