The message boards over the interstate that tell you there’s an AMBER alert or special road information will now be lit up all the time.
 
When there is not an urgent message to get across, the Illinois Department of Transportation will use the signs for such safety reminders as “Don’t Drink and Drive,” and “Stay off the Phone in Work Zones.”
 
Josh Kauffman, a spokesman for IDOT, points out the signs are already in place, and the messages can easily be changed. “One fatality is one too many,” says Kauffman in mentioning Illinois traffic deaths are showing a slight upward trend this year, though still on pace for fewer than 1,000 for the year.