Skeleton Signs Spook Speeders Into Slowing Down

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Our friends at The Barbarian Group have teamed up with New York City’s Department of Transportation on an awareness campaign to reduce speeding. When drivers approach a dot matrix sign driving at or below the speed limit of 30 miles per hour, they see the pedestrian image up top; but if a speed radar determines that they are exceeding the limit, it is replaced with the skeleton below and a warning to slow down.

Scarier than any spook, though, is the statistic which inspired the campaign:

When a pedestrian is struck at 30mph by a vehicle, there is an 80% chance they will survive. If a pedestrian is struck at 40mph, there is a 70% chance they will die. 10mph, a seemingly subtle difference while you are behind the wheel, is the difference between life and death as a pedestrian.

The New York Times reports that the signs will be deployed in the city this summer, though it has not yet been determined where they will be placed.

(via Barbarian Group. Thanks Lexi! | Profile of skeleton designer)


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