LADOT to Cyclists: “Watch the Road” or Be “Bug Splatter”

If you don’t care for DOT’s new bike safety ads, here’s something you’ll really hate.

Damien Newtown out at Streetsblog LA pointed us to this flippant, counterproductive LADOT spot earlier today. While our own DOT implores street users to look out for each other, the agency’s LA counterpart plays up the supremacy of the motorist by likening cyclists to insects. Writes Damien:

[F]or anyone that thinks that it’s unfair to pull an LADOT advertisement
from a couple of years ago to compare to the hard-hitting stuff being
put out in NYC, components of the “Laws of Physics” advertisement
campaign are still being circulated today. At Bike to Work Day, I
received a yellow bracelet bearing the slogan “Ride right and stop at
the light,” a slogan which still confuses me. Are they telling me to
ride correctly, or urging me to ride in the gutter? Is the bracelet an
example of bad grammar or bad advice?

Like several New York readers, Damien wonders if the “Look” ads might unintentionally scare would-be cyclists off the roads. But relatively speaking, at least, NYC DOT’s message holds up pretty well.