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NYC's "Scary" New Skeleton "Slow Down" Signs Target Speeders, Deadheads
By
John Del Signore
Published May 12, 2011
Modified May 13, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 12, 2011
Modified May 13, 2011
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Drivers clocked going over 30 mph as they zoom past the city's new digital "Slow Down" signs will soon get an added bonus: a skeleton image, intended to remind them of the potential consequences of speeding. It's a good start, but couldn't the DOT at least give the skeleton a top hat, or throw some dancing bears on there? We guess we'll take what we can get. The signs are intended to reduce speeding, and NY1 asserts that "one way to slow down traffic is simply to give more tickets, but Mayor Bloomberg said today that because of the city's tight budget, that's not going to happen." Besides, the NYPD is already maxed out ticketing all these speeding cyclists.
At a press conference today, Bloomberg told reporters, "You should see... how they label cigarette packs. They have pictures of skulls and crossbones, they have pictures of lungs, people breathing through their throats. The idea is to get people to realize that what they’re doing could kill them or kill somebody else and to encourage them to obey the law. And unless you make it graphic people don’t get the message."
But is the skeleton too graphic? Will its sudden appearance cause more accidents when speeding drivers are startled by its spooky scary visage? We're going to have nightmares for days just seeing a photo of it—it's more terrifying than a werewolf bar mitzvah!
Tagged
dead head
digital sign
scary
skeleton
skeleton sign
slow down sign
speeder
speeding
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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