Car Culture

“Adam Ruins Everything” Explains the Origins of “Jaywalking”

Think the origins of "jaywalking" in 1920s car industry propaganda are too esoteric for a mainstream audience? Watch this clip from truTV's "Adam Ruins Everything" that adapts research from Peter Norton's Fighting Traffic, a history of how motordom conquered American streets in the early 20th century. It's a good sign when productions backed by the entertainment industry start devoting attention to topics like this.

By Angie Schmitt

2:46 PM EDT on October 14, 2015

Think the origins of “jaywalking” in 1920s car industry propaganda are too esoteric for a mainstream audience? Watch this clip from truTV’s “Adam Ruins Everything” that adapts research from Peter Norton’s Fighting Traffic, a history of how motordom conquered American streets in the early 20th century. It’s a good sign when productions backed by the entertainment industry start devoting attention to topics like this.

Hat tip Michael Briggs.

Angie Schmitt

Angie is a Cleveland-based writer with a background in planning and newspaper reporting. She has been writing about cities for Streetsblog for six years.

Car Culture

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