NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Tennessee Department of Transportation will only display the state's highway fatality rate on Fridays starting this year after months of running the numbers daily on digital message boards across the state.

State officials started displaying the running daily tally last April after seeing a sharp increase in fatalities in the first quarter of 2012. TDOT Commissioner John Schroer said he believes the public message campaign was successful, although the state still had more than 1,000 deaths on the highways in the past year.

TDOT will continue to run safety messages on other days that target issues like texting while driving, drowsy driving and driving under the influence.

TDOT said in a news release that the fatality messages were controversial, but garnered mostly positive responses from motorists