Wait though, the P.S.A. wasn’t just about being distracted, it was about driving too fast. They say over and over again that he shouldn’t have been in such a rush. That more than implies that he’s going to fast. He may be a lout talking on his cell phone, but he’s also going faster than he should.

I can’t believe you all are putting me in a position where I feel I have to defend LADOT.

- It implies that the responsibilty is the driver’s, not the system’s.
- It’s ultimately passive… just “Watch” and we’ll take care of you.
- It assumes a driver – or maybe maybe a cyclist – but does a pedestrian or a transit rider need to watch the road? Nah – they have better things to do, better things to watch.
- Even the word “road” sounds utiliarian compared to street or boulevard…

Maybe a contest in order – what’s a better slogan for LADOT? ok… these aren’t serious… but someone should come up with an alternative… maybe there’s even a way to alter/repair those watch the road signs up around town.
- Save the Street
- Bike the Boulevard
- Watch people! Ride Transit!
- Watch the People on the Bus
- Step Away from the Car
- Get out of the Car
- The less you drive the smarter you are (that’s from Repo Man)
- Reclaim the Streets
- Divorce your Car! (that’s a book)

And what is even worse, SUV’s have higher bumpers which makes many vehicular strikes which would be leg or thigh injuries with a sedan into neck and head injuries. The higher bumper also increases the ability of the SUV to drag the child under and down the road, if the driver does not stop immediately.

Eric G was on the right track. Those were light-years better than any American PSA effort. However this PSA out of Ireland is by far the most disturbing PSA about speeding and pedestrian safety I’ve ever seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYm3k9-esmE&feature=related

(Sorry for the poor video quality)

America is not willing to look itself in the mirror and face the horror our motorized nation has created. In LA, with Hollywood and all that movie talent, this and other that supposed award winning PSA are both pathetically lame.

So the guy was distracted, we get it, I’d be distracted too if I had to thread myself through all those parked cars; but HOW FAST was he going?

And did LADOT, in their quest to “MOVE MORE CARS” and “STORE MORE CARS” end up creating too many parking spaces or open a road to through traffic that didn’t need to be opened?

(Ever notice that there isn’t one single mid-block street closure in the jurisdiction of LADOT??)

I think its a good contrast to look at yesterday’s P.S.A.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDEzUMwAgfo
(Which “May not be suitable for Young Adults”???!!!???)

And contrast it with this one from the state of South Australia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqyajuxwnRM
(Has the same plot and protagonist)

From the chapter “The safety of walking and cycling in different countries” by Barbara Preston – in the book ‘The Greening of Urban Transport’ (edition II) edited by Rodney Tolley (published in the UK by John Wiley & Sons, 1997):

“A very young child hit by the front of a vehicle may receive a head injury which is lethal, or may be knocked forward, run over and stuck under the wheels of the vehicle, which may be very serious. The proportion of fatal and serious casualties that are fatal is therefore higher for those under 3 years of age than for the middle aged. For taller people the initial impact will be to the legs and so will be less serious than a head injury, though, depending on the speed, the pedestrian may then swing forward onto the … hood … and the second impact may be against the windscreen. The driver will then slow down and as the car stops the pedestrian will not and will be thrown forward on the ground where a third impact may occur.”

It keeps going – and credits this to another article I haven’t read: Ashton, R.F., 1982, ‘Vehicle design and pedestrian injuries’, in Chapman, A.J., Wade, F.M. and Foot, H.C. (eds) ‘Pedestrian Accidents’, John Wiley Chichester

What I read here and why I post this is that maybe cars kill younger shorter kids without even popping them up to the windshield like in the video.

This commercial properly gives me the impression that cars are seriously dangerous vehicles.