Daily What?! NYC Department of Transportation Presents Curbside Haiku

One of our readers spotted this innovative safety initiative last week. The New York City Department of Transportation, in conjunction with Safe Streets Fund, has been running Curbside Haiku since late 2011. Curbside Haiku presents twelve “bright, eye-catching designs by artist John Morse that mimic the style of traditional street safety signs, ” accompanied by a haiku. One hundred forty-four of these signs were “placed near eye level in high-crash locations near cultural institutions and schools,” in order to promote rode safety.  This isn’t the DOT’s first attempt to create interactive and fun public service advertisements. There’s the “You the Man” app to prevent drunk driving, while John Morse also worked on this year’s Rorschach anti-drunk driving Blotto campaign as well.

The Curbside Haiku we recently caught sight of depicted a body split into multiple pieces with the words, “Oncoming cars rush. Each a 3 ton bullet. And you, flesh and bone.” Some of the signs include QR codes as well, that lead to safety messages when scanned. Here’s an overview of the various signs:

Check out The Complete Curbside Haiku and Curbside Haiku: Location Guide.

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