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Bicycle Safety

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

4:10 PM EDT on June 22, 2009

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 advertisementfrom a couple of years ago to compare to the hard-hitting stuff beingput out in NYC, components of the "Laws of Physics" advertisementcampaign are still being circulated today. At Bike to Work Day, Ireceived a yellow bracelet bearing the slogan "Ride right and stop atthe light," a slogan which still confuses me. Are they telling me toride correctly, or urging me to ride in the gutter? Is the bracelet anexample 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.

Brad Aaron
Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York'’s dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.

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