Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Cars

WARNING: Cars are Dangerous!

A warning label like this will soon be on gas pumps in Cambridge, Mass.

The city of Cambridge will soon become the first American jurisdiction to put warning labels on gas pumps to remind drivers of their impact on the planet. That made us wonder: why stop there?

The Massachusetts ordinance passed back in January, but the city is reportedly in the process of finalizing designs for the advisory notices, which we can only hope will manage to illustrate what car emissions do to literally all life on earth with the same disturbing accuracy as cigarette warning labels that depict what Marlboros do to a human lung.

But, of course, climate change isn't the only damage wrought by car dependency — and we think lots of other elements of our auto-obsessed culture deserve a label that make drivers think twice.

Photoshop nerds, feel free to create your own and tag us on social media.

A suitable SUV warning

cadillac grill

The skyrocketing popularity of SUVs and pick up trucks is a proven contributor to our accelerating pedestrian death crisis — so much so that other countries are trying to stop the import of American-made megacars to their roads. In the absence of standards vehicle safety standards (wouldn't that be nice?), at the very least, drivers should know they're buying a death machine that kills 100 percent of pedestrians it hits when the driver travels faster than 40 miles per hour.

Bull-Bar

Bull bars

Horrifically popular among law enforcement officers in particular, "bull bars" or "push bars" are exert 10 to 15 times more force on a child’s head in the event of a crash than an unmodified front end. And they serve no purpose besides making drivers look like aggressive jerks.

Crosswalks

unmarked-crosswalks-texas with warning

Ironically, labeling this unmarked crosswalk with a warning, would...y'know...mark it. (But autonomous vehicles still probably wouldn't be smart enough to read it.)

Dooring warning

sharrow_open_car_door warning

Here's a wild idea, urban planners: maybe just stop putting unprotected bike lanes in the door zone?

Pedestrian warning signs

crosswalk-flags_main1

More and more cities are installing quivers of pedestrian warning flags that walkers are expected to wave as they cross an unsignalized street. This is just dumb.

— with Gersh Kuntzman

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Is Sec. Duffy Holding NY Transit Hostage To Negotiate Away The Rest of America’s Transportation Future?

The federal Transportation secretary is using two large transit projects as a bargaining chip to bully Congress into passing a budget that could be disastrous for communities across the country.

October 3, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Shut It Down

The government shutdown looks like it will be just another excuse for the Trump administration to cancel transportation projects unless blue states bend the knee.

October 3, 2025

Can Pedestrian Pop-Ups Go Permanent in the U.S.?

Can temporary pedestrian pop-ups spur permanent change?

October 3, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Healthy Architecture, Healthy People

It is very unusual for an architecture project to pay any attention at all outside of the property line. And that has to change.

October 2, 2025

Report: A Third of Americans Can’t Rely On Cars — And 16 Million Have No Access At All

So why do we plan our cities like everyone can and does get behind the wheel every day?

October 2, 2025
See all posts