Skip to content

Awful Pedestrian Shaming Campaign Gets the Smackdown It Deserves

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."
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

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?

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Photo of Angie Schmitt
Angie is a Cleveland-based writer with a background in planning and newspaper reporting. She has been writing about cities for Streetsblog for six years.

More from Streetsblog USA

How (And Why) To Capture the Livable Streets Movement on Film

November 10, 2026

Tuesday’s Headlines Are Still Surfing the Blue Wave

November 10, 2026

How to Fight a Freeway 101

November 9, 2026

Monday’s Headlines Come Heavy or Not at All

November 9, 2026

The California DMV’s Culture of Obstruction

November 6, 2026
See all posts