‘Let the Wookie Win’: Iowa DOT invokes Star Wars for highway safety

Put down your phone while driving, you will, or to the Dark Side it will lead.

Iowa Department of Transportation, utilizing mantras from a galaxy far far away, is invoking the power of The Force to urge motorists to drive safe on Iowa's roadways in the days leading up to the latest installment of Star Wars.

'Road Rage? Let the Wookie Win,” and 'Be a Rebel Not a Clone: Put Down the Phone” were among the messages planted on overhead digital message boards spanning interstates around Iowa on Monday.

'It all boils down to talking about safety,” said Willy Sorenson, an Iowa DOT traffic and safety engineer.

Sorenson along with colleague Tracey Bramble authored the messages after soliciting ideas from co-workers for the past month.

'Whatever it takes to get people to think about safety. And, if people don't realize we are talking about safety because it is masked, it works even better,” Sorenson said.

Buzz for Star Wars: Episode VII, The Force Awakens, which opens in theaters on Thursday evening, has been building for months. Some Star Wars fans are attending a 17.5 hour marathon including showings of all six original movies leading up to the opening at 7 p.m., Thursday at Wehrenberg Cedar Rapids Galaxy 16 Cine on Council Street NE.

The Star Wars-themed safety tips are part of Message Monday, which is a staple of the Zero Fatalities campaign. Since 2013, Iowa DOT has been using witty sayings to promote safety on Iowa's highways.

The messages are displayed on 74 overhead message boards on interstates around the state, including on Interstate 380 near Wilson Avenue in Cedar Rapids and I-80 near 12th Avenue in Coralville.

The idea for a Star Wars campaign came after positive feedback from a message on May 4, which is an unofficial Star Wars holiday.

'May the Fourth Be With You, Text I Will Not,” the message stated borrowing the backward speech pattern of Jedi Master, Yoda.

Sorenson's boss Sandra Larson, of the systems operations bureau, suggested considering tying a message to the movie release, he said. Sorenson and Bramble narrowed down to a list of 10 'good ones,” and paired those down to five and stopped there.

They decided to use all five rather than the usual one, and spread them across the state.

The other sayings included:

'Awaken Your Inner Force: Focus on the Road”

'The Force is Strong with You: Put Down Your Phone.”

'Texting & Driving Leads to the Dark Side.”

The Iowa DOT shared the idea with counterparts in other states. Sorenson said Arizona and Colorado joined in on Monday, and Utah, which needed its message boards for a winter storm on Monday, plans to do so on Thursday, Sorenson said.