NJ's funny highway road signs are back with a holiday flair. How many have you seen?

This holiday season, the New Jersey Department of Transportation is ramping up the spirit along New Jersey roadways, including a bit of humor in warnings against reckless and distracted driving.

Busy holiday weekends typically see an increase in injuries and fatalities on the road, and distracted driving is the leading cause of fatal crashes in the state, according to the DOT.

As thousands of people traveled New Jersey roads over this Thanksgiving weekend, many started noticing the department's updated variable message sign boards. The new boards say things such as:

• "Reckless drivers are worse than fruitcake."

• "Only Rudolph should be lit, drive high get DUI."

• "Santa's watching, put down the phone."

• "HO HO HO please drive slow."

• "Don't be a grinch, let them merge."

These are similar to the funny traffic signs the DOT put out last year. The signs, which went viral on social media, included punny and sarcastic statements that urged drivers to stop reckless and distracted driving. Examples include:

• "We'll be blunt, don't drive high."

• "Get your head out of your apps."

• "Nice car, did it come with a turn signal?"

After the virality of the funny signs, the state began to face criticism. People were saying the signs were, ironically, distracting them and becoming dangerous, and some evidently were snapping photos of the signs while driving.

Residents and travelers took to social media with their opinions, most of them seemingly positive, commenting under videos and photos of the signs. Some TikTok users made comments such as "This is very New Jersey" and "I saw the one that said, 'Nice car, did it come with a turn signal' and I bursted out laughing."

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The Transportation Department responded to the initial criticism with a meme on its social media pages saying, "We're glad you're enjoying the new safety messages, but please don't take pictures of the VMS boards while driving! It is very dangerous and defeats the message we're trying to drive home. #drivewithfocus," accompanied by a meme of an angry cat driving a car that said, "If you keep taking photos of the VMS boards while driving, we will turn this car around and go back to the old messages."

While drivers in New Jersey seemed to love the funny signs, many admitted that they were distracting, making comments such as "I love this but yes I have taken pictures of them while driving" on various social media platforms.

Eventually the signs were taken down, after the Federal Highway Administration deemed them too distracting.

Clearly, the DOT is no stranger to humorous and holiday-themed advertising, using these tactics often to reach New Jersey drivers. Over the last few months, the department has posted messages on its X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook pages that read:

• "Don't sandwich and drive," posted on Nov. 3, National Sandwich Day.

• "It's time for pumpkin spice and driving nice," posted toward the end of September.

Although the signs are funny, reckless driving is not. Be careful on the roads, and have safe and happy holiday travels!

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJDOT funny holiday signs target reckless driving on NJ roads