After witnessing numerous accidents caused by pedestrians and bicyclists crossing against red lights and motorists mowing down said pedestrians and bicyclists, George Gascón and the folks at the D.A.'s office have decided to fight back with a new, $25,000 ad campaign. According to the SF Appeal, the three ads, targeted to motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians, respectively, will feature the slogan "What's the Rush?" and a reminder of the fees each group can incur for violating traffic laws (a hefty $238 for drivers and $197 for non-drivers). The info is accompanied by real-life snapshots of SF violators, of which the D.A. apparently had no shortage. "Frankly, we had an excess number of photos," Gascón told the Appeal. "It was just that bad."
With the highest per-capita vehicle-pedestrian injury and collision rate in California (and 17 pedestrian fatalities in 2011 alone), SF clearly needs to slow its collective roll. We're not sure how well targeting bad drivers with Muni advertising is going to work, though, considering that drivers, by definition, aren't riding the bus. That said, when it comes to moving at a snail's pace, we can't imagine plastering our ads on a better advocate.
