This is the message of an old campaign for the #securityRoadway in #UK. It sounds ridiculous, if only the same message (maybe a bit watered down), was not used for road safety campaigns nowadays.
Pure victim blaming
crossposted from: https://poliversity.it/users/rivoluzioneurbanamobilita/statuses/115705207235775690
Almost like a horror movie
“Stay off the road, or else”
Almost like a horror movie
…Or a Mafia warning
Jaywalk sounds like a good name for a movie ngl
I don’t think this is victim blaming, it’s just teaching kids to be safe. If a kid steps into a road and gets hit by a car it doesn’t matter whose fault it is, the kid ain’t coming back to life.
Yes, because you accept that roads are dangerous because of cars.
But who is giving this warning? The same institution that allowed the roads to become unsafe in the first place, and should protect vulnerable users instead of blaming them. This makes it victim blaming.
Road is public space and it doesn’t make sense that so much of it is unsafe for people not in a metal cage. Do you see which community we are in, by the way?
Man, two things can be true at once. Car culture is a toxic blight on humanity, and also we don’t want dead kids. You can navigate reality without “accepting” (meaning approving of) it.
Ok, but the main point is in the second sentence. I mean: the advice to not run down the kerb is something I say to my daughter, and i think it’s fine. The problem is where this comes from, the government who is shaking off responsibility for road safety by blaming vulnerable victims instead of working on the cause of danger (spoiler: cars, speed, drivers)
I think the problem is that things like this are the only thing government typically does. Not that they do it at all.
https://www.lifeaftercars.com/
I recommend you give this book a read, it goes into detail as to how this most certainly is victim blaming.
Edit:
I just remembered a thing I saw to help visualise how much of our public space has been dedicated to death. It was created for a Swedish speed reduction campaign
Kinda like “the morgue is full of people who had the right-of-way”
It looks like an advertisement for a dance club. “Stop at the Kerb.” The Kerb is my favorite club.
A Kebab place nearby
Is spelling it ‘kerb’ a British English thing? I’ve always thought it was curb.
Side note, people who stand halfway on and off the curb like the picture give me untold amounts of anxiety. Like they are going to leap into traffic at any moment, unpredictably. I really wish people would stand back from the curb, or there were guard rails preventing movement until walk light is green.
Imagine this as a cyclist when people roll at junctions and you don’t know if they’re seeing you or about to t-bone you
Totally get this. On the other hand, in my city where the streets are wide as shit and crossing signals are timed for only the quickest of walkers-you need every second you can get.
@phed @lgsp If you’re driving and the environment including the presence of other road users is making you feel uncomfortable, slowing down should help.
Also, you do know that at a crossing without a light, you have to stop for pedestrians, right? They stand on the edge of the curb to let you know they want to cross. If they stand back out of the way, they might never get to cross until a really kind driver comes along and there aren’t many of those these days.
We had a full scale light signal in my kindergarten. As well as similar signs.
A different type of false move, and you’re dad.
my brain @ me
