An enigmatic hidden message published by the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) on its official Twitter profile has triggered a multitude of reactions against the body under the Ministry of the Interior. Traffic followers on the social network have criticized the fact that the entity responsible for road safety in Spain uses an information panel to insert a message in which some letters are missing that drivers supposedly have to decipher.
In the photograph of the post published by the DGT on Twitter, an information panel appears on the M-30 that contains an indecipherable phrase, since of the 36 characters that make it up, half (18) appear hidden. It is about guessing the missing vowels and consonants to find out the content of the message that appears centered on the information panel next to the two logos of the General Directorate of Traffic itself.
The reaction of the tweeters was immediate. According to the comments published by the users of the social network owned by Elon Musk, the game proposed by Traffic did not like almost anyone. The messages against the DGT accuse the agency of being frivolous because they consider that with actions like this the only thing it achieves is distracting the attention of drivers.
Precisely, distractions behind the wheel are one of the causes of the highest road accident rate in our country. This is confirmed by the data handled by the DGT itself, which recognizes that 30 percent of accidents occur for this reason. One of the most recurring distractions pursued by traffic agents is the use of mobile devices while driving. For this reason, the reform of the Traffic Law punishes this infraction more severely, maintaining the financial penalty of 200 euros but increasing the deduction of points from the license from three to six points.
The General Directorate of Traffic reacted shortly after reading the criticism received for the publication of the post with the enigmatic message and posted a new publication explaining that it was only a game. “You will never see this panel on the road because it would indeed cause distractions. It is just a game that we propose to you on social networks so that you can guess the slogan. The first thing, Road Safety â€, indicated the DGT in this tweet halfway between the explanation and the apology.
For the peace of mind of drivers, it should be noted that the photograph of the panel with the indecipherable message is not real. “It would never occur to us to write a message that would cause the driver’s distraction. The photo is not real. It is just a game,” remarks a DGT source consulted by Moveo.
This controversial post from the DGT comes in the middle of the second phase of the operation out of Easter in which millions of drivers leave large urban centers to enjoy a few days of vacation. To warn of the danger of driving after having consumed alcoholic beverages, Traffic has launched a campaign with the slogan ‘Alcohol deceives you. Only 0 has 0 consequences. In it he ‘sings’ all kinds of justifications that we have all heard at some time: “with two drinks I do not test positive”, “nothing has ever happened to me”, etc.
Likewise, Traffic also warns the occupants of the vehicles, in another current campaign these days, about the danger of traveling without using or misusing the seat belt. In order for the messages published on the information panels on the highways to gain greater force and capture the attention of the driver, the DGT has chosen to head them with the names of people (Carmen, David…): ‘Carmen put on your seatbelt’.
This strategy of the organization directed by Pere Navarro has not escaped criticism from users of social networks either. Memes with messages like “Manolo, you owe me a Bizumâ€, published by the official Bizum account in Spain, are an example of this, without forgetting that some comments criticize the blatant misspellings on the panels.
For example, in the sentence ‘Carmen put on your belt’, a comma is omitted between ‘Carmen’ and ‘ponte’, since it implies a request of will or order. In addition, on the signs, written in capital letters, the tilde in the word ‘belt’ is omitted.
