Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
Ad Nauseam

LADOT P.S.A. – Same Crash, Different Perspective

So, a lot of you didn't like the Emmy Award Winning P.S.A. put out by LADOT in 2008 which showed a young girl getting hit by a speeding car because it put too much of the blame on the girl and not enough on the driver.  I thought it was a powerful piece, maybe because as an expectant father any image of a child being mauled by a vehicle is going to get my attention, and many commenters thought it was a missed opportunity to make a point about dangerous driving.

Fair enough.

But to be fair to LADOT, yesterday I was only covering the advertisement that won the Emmy.  Above, is a companion announcement focusing only on the driver's role in the crash.  If I were an Emmy voter, I would have voted for yesterday's featured ad over this one because the voice-over from the driver in today's sounds a little off to me:

My God!  How did this happen?  As a child, I was always in a hurry.  As I got older, I was always distracted.   And in the next second, I'll kill a little girl.

Then, the same film of a young girl in a pink soccer uniform getting slammed into by the driver is shown before the voice changes to another man, presumably one of the police on the scene.

Good driving behavior starts at an early age.  Traffic safety is everybody's responsibility.  Watch the road.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Alhambra Approves New Pilot Bus Routes

City council knew rerouting wouldn’t please everyone, but eventually it passed 4-0. The bus network reconfiguration is projected to increase ridership 19%.

January 29, 2026

Thursday’s Headlines

ICE, DIY crosswalks, Waymo, LAX people mover, LAPD, Curren Price, WeHo, Measure HLA, CicLAvia, river path, Los Feliz, car-nage, and more

January 29, 2026

Wednesday’s Headlines

ICE, ULA mansion tax tweaks delayed, resurfacing, Metro D Line, car-nage, and more

January 28, 2026

Tuesday’s Headlines

Measure ULA, ICE, SB79, World Cup, CD9, Glendale, UCLA, Expo Park, WeHo, car-nage, and more

January 27, 2026

Eyes on the Street: 6th Street Viaduct ‘PARC’ Construction

Sixth Street PARC - Park, Arts, River & Connectivity - construction is nearly complete, and expected to finish this year

January 26, 2026
See all posts