Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Streetsblog USA

Awful Pedestrian Shaming Campaign Gets the Smackdown It Deserves

Montgomery County, Maryland, used this ill-considered poster to blame pedestrians who are hit by cars. Photo: Montgomery County
Montgomery County, Maryland, thought this was a good public safety message. Photo: Montgomery County
false

This PSA from Montgomery County, Maryland, has got to be one of the all-time worst examples of pedestrian shaming. The young girl with tire treads across her face, it's implied, was struck and killed by a driver because she was "wearing black."

The message was the county's response to two recent pedestrian fatalities. According to the county, police will be ticketing drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists who break laws. The victim-blaming posters combined with the everyone-gets-fined approach to enforcement tells us this "safety campaign" won't make pedestrians any safer.

On Twitter, Colin Browne succinctly summed up what's wrong with Montgomery County's approach:

.@MontgomeryCoMD here I fixed it for you pic.twitter.com/yJKfUVcKKT

— Colin (@ColinTBrowne) November 3, 2016

Can Montgomery County replace its campaign imagery with Colin's version?

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

Thursday’s Headlines

What the heck is the Montana exemption? I guess I don't spend much time on luxury car news sites.

March 26, 2026

Why Cities Need More “Agile” Streets

When projects are routed through a full capital-improvement workflow, solutions tend toward expensive, permanent interventions - not alternatives that might achieve 80 percent of the benefit at 10 percent of the cost.

March 25, 2026

Op-Ed: Let’s Make Transit Work for Marin

This time of change is an opportunity to make Marin County more transit oriented in new ways.

March 25, 2026

Streets for All: SoCal Could Fund All of Southland’s High-Speed Rail with EIFD

Streets for All report shows that all of SoCal High-Speed Rail could be funded with EIFD's, with money leftover to support local transit.

March 25, 2026

Wednesday’s Headlines

More news on legislation and transit funding as Mayor Bass skips a Streets for All forum. Also: No Kings.

March 25, 2026

Eyes on the Street: Progress on Folsom Streetscape Project

One of SoMa's major thoroughfares is getting long-overdue repairs that will include bike and ped safety improvements.

March 24, 2026
See all posts