Art thinks this is swell - no pumping

Probably serves Art right for being such a hipster...

More seriously though Retronaut have uploaded a selection of 1940s US bicycle safety adverts. It's interesting how much blame they seem to place on cyclists, even when George is hit by a car which seems to have been driving extremely close:

Full set here:
http://www.retronaut.co/2012/02/death-caused-by-carelessness-by-the-bicyclist-1940s/

Car shouldn't be driving so close. Safety fail.

george should have indicated or at least done a life saver

and is currently on his iPHONE to lawyersforyou.com suing the council for a poorly placed fire hydrant

Lesson?

Should've bunnyhopped.

Brought to you by madskillzroadplanningltd

Lesson - stop designing cars with bulbous noses, sharp hood ornaments and razor-like fins.

"Alice, face down, pumping hard" distracted me from the important safety messages here.

This kind of thing survives until today. Often, the messaging is more subtle and less crass, but sometimes the real intent breaks through, as in the DfT's fairly recent on-line 'game' on 'Tales of the Road' in which children were invited to hit helmetless children with a hammer while not hitting helmeted children. That one was withdrawn, but the site hasn't really changed much. Just look at this beauty:

http://talesoftheroad.direct.gov.uk/stop-look-listen.php

It's essentially exactly the same thing--make children afraid and condition their behaviour--, except that today it's an 'interactive' computer game. Here's the summary of what's supposed to be 'learned':

http://talesoftheroad.direct.gov.uk/pdf/make-me-cross-pack.pdf

The whole 'Tales of the Road' site is an absolute disgrace.

that game's like one of those distance competitions right?

Is having to agree with that.it scares kids witless those concentration camp kids.
And another thing.they've got these creepy kid bollards going up now-
Spooky midwich cuckoo kids on street corners.if that method of making drivers slow down isn't fucked I dunno what is.
Cyclecampaigning thread sorry

It's been posted there, too.

Real spite in some of them,
but

is just chilling.

how very 2012 ^
somethings just don't change do they

..sometimes the real intent breaks through, as in the DfT's fairly recent on-line 'game' on 'Tales of the Road' in which children were invited to hit helmetless children with a hammer while not hitting helmeted children.

Jesus. That's unbelievable. Sounds like something out of Brass Eye.

That one was withdrawn, but the site hasn't really changed much. Just look at this beauty

So I think the takeaway I got from this was that crossing the road is gambling with your life and you only get one go in real life and if you get run over it is YOUR FAULT.

It took me four goes to work out how to get the kid across the road in one piece :/

The whole 'Tales of the Road' site is an absolute disgrace.

+1.