{"id":7432,"date":"2015-02-17T10:30:47","date_gmt":"2015-02-17T15:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smartsignblog.com\/blog\/?p=7432"},"modified":"2023-10-31T06:49:33","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T10:49:33","slug":"cheeky-crossing-signs-text-walk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/cheeky-crossing-signs-text-walk\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheeky crossing signs take on those who text and walk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a <em>sign<\/em> of the times: Hayward, California has little tolerance for those who might wander into traffic while glued to a smartphone, and they want you to know about it. They&#8217;ve commissioned and posted official crossing signs that read:<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 HEADS UP!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 CROSS THE STREET.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 THEN UPDATE FACEBOOK.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The sign is complete with figurines holding their smartphones while presumably focusing on crossing the street instead of what their high school classmates had for lunch.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7435\" style=\"width: 366px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7435\" class=\" wp-image-7435\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/haywardca.jpeg\" alt=\"crossing signs\" width=\"356\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/haywardca.jpeg 512w, https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/haywardca-300x182.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 356px) 100vw, 356px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-7435\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From The Fresno Bee.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Chris Matyszczyk covered the story for c|net and reports being \u201cprostrate in admiration\u201d of Hayward&#8217;s city officials for turning \u201csome of its official messaging into what borders on contemporary art.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The problem, of course, is that if a pedestrian is already engrossed in his smartphone, he is unlikely to actually <em>notice<\/em> the sign.<\/p>\n<p>This is a sign that certainly wouldn&#8217;t have existed ten years ago. And, as cheeky as it is, it&#8217;s there for a reason. A study conducted at the University of Nebraska Medical Center&#8217;s Department of Health Services Research and Administration found a 50\u00a0percent increase in pedestrian deaths between 2005 and 2010. Someone should probably conduct an updated study, because we&#8217;re guessing things have become even more dismal over the past five years.<\/p>\n<p>Texting and walking isn&#8217;t the only target of Hayward&#8217;s public information officer, Frank Holland, who is behind the <em>HEADS UP <\/em>sign. Holland is also responsible for similarly creative \u2013 slash \u2013 abrasive signs targeting motorists. (See, pedestrians aren&#8217;t the only ones making poor decisions.)<\/p>\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n<p><strong>DOWNHILL. USE EYES, BRAKES, BRAIN.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>and<\/p>\n<p><strong>IT\u2019S A SPEED LIMIT, NOT A SUGGESTION.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Holland is\u00a0aware that not everyone will be on board with the messaging, but that&#8217;s okay with him. \u201cI\u2019m the guy that everybody can point at and say, \u2018God, these are horrible.\u2019 But you know what? If they say [the signs are] horrible, that&#8217;s OK because they&#8217;re still talking about the message and hopefully slowing down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Or looking up from their phones.<\/p>\n<p>Holland is feeling the pressure to be similarly creative in coming up with more signs for Hayward. Matyszczyk says that, \u201cPeople do so many ridiculous nonsensical things that he&#8217;ll have an infinity of opportunity and a plethora of avenues to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ll emphasize that those are his words, not ours. But, he may have a point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a sign of the times: Hayward, California has little tolerance for those who might wander into traffic while glued to a smartphone, and they want you to know about it. They&#8217;ve commissioned and posted official crossing signs that read: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 HEADS UP! \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 CROSS THE STREET. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 THEN UPDATE [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":7435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[183,499,95,173],"class_list":["post-7432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-funny","tag-distracted-driving-2","tag-mobile-phone","tag-pedestrian","tag-smartphones"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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