More of America’s city dwellers are trying bicycles, and that makes these trying times for bike riders, pedestrians and drivers alike. Bikes run into people, cars run into bikes, bikes run into cars. New York City is trying a novel approach to improve bike safety: poetry.
The NYC Department of Transportation has rolled out a new bicycle safety program, Curbside Haiku signs. The signs feature 12 designs, and each spells out bike safety tips in poems of 17 syllables. This official New York municipal program is based on an Atlanta guerrilla art project by John Morse.
The thoughtful Curbside Haiku poem cycle covers essential bicycle topics, all except one. This one:
Pedal with respect
The streets are for everyone
Spandex shorts are not
More:
“New Haiku Signs Will Make NYC Streets Safer Through Power Of Poetry,” John Del Signore, Gothamist
“NYC uses haiku to promote street safety message,” AP via Wall Street Journal
Note: BikeReader.com has a Bicycle Haiku section.
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Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-bJJ
Image (“Bicycle in the Pleasure Quarter, after Yoshitoshi”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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Tags: alternative transportation, art, bicyles, bike-ped, bikes, Curbside Haiku, design, haiku, NYC DOT, poetry, transportation, urban design, urban transportation
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