A safety campaign blames pedestrians for getting hit by cars. This response is perfect.

StreetSmart, a Washington, DC-area public safety campaign, has been running an ad that lots of people find objectionable:

Endlessly frustrated that regional bike-ped money pays for this. Safety education is not the same as victim blaming. pic.twitter.com/EX942VElBT

— Shane Farthing (@ShaneFarthing) March 24, 2015

So DC resident Colin Browne made a slight revision:

Dear Sirs, See attached for suggested revisions to your StreetSmart Campaign. Thanks, -Colin pic.twitter.com/CEpSyZqnb5

— Colin (@ColinTBrowne) March 25, 2015

What Browne is pointing out here is that the original ad is engaging in a bit of victim-blaming.

Yes, if you're a pedestrian, wearing bright colors reduces your risk of getting hit by a car. But ultimately, it's drivers that are responsible for running over pedestrians — and there's something weird about putting up safety ads on buses that focus on pedestrians' choice of attire instead.

To be fair, StreetSmart also has ads directed at drivers. But in the past, the organization has run other ads that bizarrely seem to suggest jaywalking presents a bigger threat to cars than pedestrians:

Read more: The forgotten history of how automakers invented the crime of "jaywalking."

Will you join us?

Our biggest supporters are our readers — and we’re so grateful to everyone who has made a contribution during our September campaign. We’re less than 1,000 contributions away from reaching our goal for the month, which in turn will allow us to say yes more often when our incredible journalists come to us with questions they want to answer and projects they want to pursue. Will you make a contribution before the month ends and support our policy coverage through 2024 and beyond?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via