Public safety alert packed in 17 syllables

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PHOENIX, June 16 (UPI) -- The Arizona Transportation Department is looking for a few good poets to alert the public about the dangers of driving in dust storms.

The department challenged its 14,000 Twitter followers to write a haiku about driving safe during the storms, sometimes called haboobs, The Arizona Republic in Phoenix reported.

The challenge to make public safety poetic has drawn three-line, 17-syllable haikus from hundreds of followers, the newspaper said Thursday.

One entry: "Dust storms are deadly / Pull over, turn off lights, wait / As earth becomes sky."

The challenge is part of the department's "Pull Aside Stay Alive" campaign on safe driving during monsoon season, which officially began Thursday.

"We've never done anything like this before, so we weren't sure what to expect, and this is something different from the government," Timothy Tait, the department's assistant communication director, told the Republic. "It's taking a humorous, lighthearted approach for a serious topic."