Stop. Slow Children at Play. Do Not Pass. Yield. Merge.
We see these words and phrases on signs as we travel along roads across the United States, but how often do we really heed the warning?
I readily admit that I’ve come to a rolling stop on more than just a few occasions. In fact, three years ago, I was pulled over for failing to come to a complete stop at an intersection between a middle school and a high school. Fortunately, I got off with just a warning. Had the police officer not been so generous I would’ve had to fork over more than $100 in fines. Since that incident I’ve become acutely aware of street signs.
Now, if the rest of America could just follow suit, people like Petulia Pugliares wouldn’t have to channel her inner Madison Avenue ad exec in order to keep kids on her street safe.
The Connecticut homeowner, who lives on a busy residential street, made headlines recently when she devised a unique campaign to try to get people to drive safely in her kid-filled neighborhood.
Tired of watching cars whiz by as neighborhood kids walked to school and played outside, Pugliares made large signs printed in bright red ink that read: “Drive Like Your Kids Live Here.”
Surprisingly, Pugliares ploy worked and motorists started slowing down when driving on her street.
“It has that hit-home effect. It really resonates and makes them slow down,” Pugliares told ABC News.
According to Safe Kids USA, every year, roughly 15,500 pedestrians under the age of 14 are injured in vehicular accidents. To reduce that number cities across the nation have turned to speed bumps, “Children at Play” signs, and video cameras as tools to convince drivers to slow down. However, now, city officials throughout Connecticut are looking to implement Pugliares “new and fresh” warning to get drivers’ attention.
ABC News reports that the town of New Milford purchased 50 of Pugliares’s signs and rotates them to different parts of the area every few months to keep the message fresh for drivers.
“People don’t speed on their own streets, so that’s the whole idea of ‘Drive Like Your Kids Live Here,’” New Milford police Sgt. James Dzamko told ABC News.
City leaders are hopeful that Pugliares’s “empathy” street signs will get drivers to picture their own child, as they travel down residential streets, and hit the brakes a bit more.
Would you slow down if you saw a “Drive Like Your Kids Live Here” sign?
Related Articles:
More Ways to Save Money on Your Summer Vacation
Saving Money on Your Summer Vacation
Even More Ways to Save Money on Vacation