Thanks to Texas Department of Transportation's campaign, "Don't Text and Drive," every Texan knows they should put down their phone when it rings behind the wheel.
But after a few Pokemon GO users made headlines for crashing while capturing creatures, TxDOT's social media manager thinks a new campaign is in order: "Don't Pokemon GO and Drive." And she feels that she "shouldn't have to tell you this."
The TxDOT employee posted a screenshot of the app telling its users to "stay aware of your surroundings" along with a plea of their own:
{"author_name":"Texas Department of Transportation","author_url":"https://www.facebook.com/TxDOT/","provider_url":"https://www.facebook.com","provider_name":"Facebook","success":true,"height":null,"html":"&#lt;div id=\"fb-root\"&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;\n&#lt;script&#gt;(function(d, s, id) {\n var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n if (d.getElementById(id)) return;\n js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n js.src = \"//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3\";\n fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));&#lt;/script&#gt;&#lt;div class=\"fb-post\" data-href=\"https://www.facebook.com/TxDOT/photos/a.91310920873.115130.44520755873/10154221151180874/?type=3\" data-width=\"552\"&#gt;&#lt;blockquote cite=\"https://www.facebook.com/TxDOT/posts/10154221151180874:0\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\"&#gt;&#lt;p&#gt;Y’all. Please don’t make us have to create a campaign called “Don’t Pokemon-Go and Drive.” We know you have to catch...&#lt;/p&#gt;Posted by &#lt;a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/TxDOT/\"&#gt;Texas Department of Transportation&#lt;/a&#gt; on &#lt;a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/TxDOT/posts/10154221151180874:0\"&#gt;Monday, July 11, 2016&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;","type":"rich","version":"1.0","url":"https://www.facebook.com/TxDOT/photos/a.91310920873.115130.44520755873/10154221151180874/?type=3","width":552}
Since it was shared on Monday, the Facebook post has garnered nearly 50,000 reactions and nearly 75,000 shares. Apparently first shared as a joke, the poster later said in a comment, "Maybe we will have a campaign about it after all," and invited people to submit their own campaign slogans, videos and graphics.
Submitters just had to follow two rules: "Keep it clean and use the hashtags #weshouldnthavetotellyouthis and #talktextcrash." Once the guidelines were set, the people certainly responded:
.@TxDOT pic.twitter.com/gYKUmVyZhc
— Kevin Freeman (@kevinsagirl) July 12, 2016
{"author_name":"Phazey","author_url":"https://www.facebook.com/Phazeylewolf/","provider_url":"https://www.facebook.com","provider_name":"Facebook","success":true,"height":281,"html":"&#lt;div id=\"fb-root\"&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;\n&#lt;script&#gt;(function(d, s, id) {\n var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n if (d.getElementById(id)) return;\n js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n js.src = \"//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3\";\n fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));&#lt;/script&#gt;&#lt;div class=\"fb-video\" data-href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Phazeylewolf/videos/vb.456495841174227/635454006611742/?type=2\"&#gt;&#lt;blockquote cite=\"https://www.facebook.com/Phazeylewolf/videos/635454006611742/\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\"&#gt;&#lt;a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Phazeylewolf/videos/635454006611742/\"&#gt;HOW TO PLAY POKEMON GO WHILE DRIVING&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;p&#gt;HOW TO PLAY POKEMON GO WHILE DRIVING\n\ndont drive and play pokemon go\n#ISHOULDENTHAVETOTELLYOUTHIS&#lt;/p&#gt;Posted by &#lt;a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Phazeylewolf/\"&#gt;Phazey&#lt;/a&#gt; on Tuesday, July 12, 2016&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;","type":"video","version":"1.0","url":"https://www.facebook.com/Phazeylewolf/videos/vb.456495841174227/635454006611742/?type=2","width":500}
One follower even came up with a parody about safety using the original Pokemon theme song:
The identity of the social media manager behind the Facebook posts remains a mystery, although some Facebook users who commented seem to believe the poster is female. But as one Austin Redditor posted, we can all agree that that this person "deserves a raise."