Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
DOT

While DOT Is Removing Signs, How About Yanking These Pedestrian Warnings?

1:58 PM EST on January 29, 2013

Photo: Nathan H.

The Times reported yesterday that DOT is in the process of taking down all of the city's "Don't Honk" signs. Ostensibly the signs are being removed in tandem with efforts to declutter the visual environment. For better or worse, it's also a tacit admission that they probably don't do very much good.

Other signs we'd like to see disappear are these victim-blaming pedestrian warnings. Posted in 2011 as part of the "Curbside Haiku" series, one sign cautions women against wearing dark clothing at night, lest they be struck by a motorist. Another one, in Midtown of all places, likens stepping into traffic to buying a lottery ticket.

These signs reinforce the false premise that motor vehicle traffic is a force of nature, as impervious to human intervention as ball lightning. They also perpetuate the notion that city pedestrians are asking to be injured or killed simply by walking outside.

Instead of brow-beating victims of traffic violence, maybe DOT could consider adding a message to the streetscape, as suggested by Streetsblog reader Jeff: "Can we just hang signs that say 'Please don't kill people' from all traffic signals?"

Photo: Jennifer Aaron

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Can We Just Keep Cars Off the Queensbridge Baby Greenway?

Why do we allow car drivers to park on greenways, in parks and on tree beds?

March 29, 2024

Maximum Rage: Delivery Workers Protest Low Wages, App ‘Lockouts’

Couriers with bikes and signs urge the city to step in as Uber Eats, GrubHub and DoorDash withhold work, they say.

March 28, 2024

The Toll of History: MTA Board Approves $15 Congestion Pricing Fee

New York City's congestion pricing tolls are one historic step closer to reality after Wednesday's 11-1 MTA board vote. Next step: all those pesky lawsuits.

March 28, 2024

Company That Fought McGuinness Safety Project Wants to Seize Bklyn Street for Private Backlot

Broadway Stages to Greenpoint residents: "Street safety for me, not for thee."

March 28, 2024
See all posts