Re: [trafficsafety] idea for a traffic safety PSA

Brian & all;
I believe something like this is very do-able. We get a helmet-cam
(Jeff B and Rev Phil have one) and use that to display the scenes with a
driver on this list (who can carefully drive) and a 'stunt' cyclist who
is capable of cycling through one of these situations without getting
hurt. This would be great because how many TV viewers have seen the
world through a cyclist's eyes. Then we repeat the scenes with no
animosity. There are many small streets where this could be done with
no problem.
Then it's just editing and publishing.

Aaron Tarfman
Transportation Diplomat
www.yourbodypower.org

"It's amazing to me that people can save $7000 a year by making a simple lifestyle change."

Brian Scrivner wrote:

> A PSA is a Public Service Announcement. Has anyone noticed there is a
> PSA for JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING? I don't watch TV often, but whenever I
> do there is a message during a commercial break about separating glass
> from other recyclables, or the importance of yielding to emergency
> vehicles, or the hazards of smoking... just about every group in the
> world has a PSA but WHERE are the ones educating viewers / listeners
> about sharing the road? I still encounter drivers who believe that
> cyclists riding in a lane (in one of the situations that permit
> "taking a lane" by law) are riding illegally, or don't realize they
> have to yield the right of way to any cyclist in a bike lane.
>
> Also, have you noticed those commercials that present two possible
> realities, one with a product and one without? Without, it is usually
> something like this: everything is seen through a gray filter,
> everyone pictured is miserable and has a mopey face, it's probably
> cloudy, etc. Then, with the introduction of The Product, suddenly
> everyone is smiling, it is sunny, everything is in full color,
> somebody's sinuses are clear now, and a butterfly alights on their
> shoulder (or some crap like that).
>
> SO, here is my idea for a "share the road" PSA:
>
> In the first half, the words "Before The Enlightenment" or similar
> fill the screen, then there is a quickly-edited succession of poor
> traffic interactions. Everyone is angry, it's cloudy, people are
> cursing at each other... or some facsimile of cursing, network
> profanity guidelines you know. A cyclist gets doored, someone is cut
> off by a right-turning motorist, a car or better yet SUV pulls out
> from a two-way stop and a cyclist ends up T-ing into their door, you
> get the idea.
>
> To start the second half, the words "After The Enlightenment" or
> similar fill the screen. In this half, colors are brighter, motorists
> and cyclists wave and smile at each other, somebody says "nice legs"
> to a cyclist, and the previously shown traffic interactions are
> repeated but there are no conflicts. The driver looks before opening
> the door, the right-turning driver and the two-way-stop driver
> patiently wait for the cyclist to clear the intersection... add your
> ideas here. Oh yeah, a butterfly alights on somebody's shoulder, or a
> dove, or maybe we could do something much more funny and unexpected
> than that.
>
> At the end, the URL for a website, preferably one with a short
> easily-remembered address, fills the screen. At this website would be
> educational information about sharing the road, presented in the
> simplest possible way, with links to statutes for each state and
> locality.
>
> Whaddaya think? Who do you think would help fund something like
> this? Has anything like this been attemped in the past? Many people
> I've talked to have been very positive about this idea.
>
> Barbara had an excellent idea for a PSA, I can't remember if it was in
> verbal conversation or an email that we "talked" about it... Barbara?
>
> <:Bri:>
>
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