Denver Activists Hijack Road Signs To Decry The Dangers of Automobility

Anti-car pranksters have struck again, this time hacking variable roadside sign in Denver with a simple but memorable message: “Cars Ruin Cities.”

Last Friday, an anonymous vandal hijacked two billboards in the Mile-High City that are usually devoted to announcing things like traffic delays, reminding state lawmakers and the traveling public alike that they are the traffic so many of them keep complaining about – but they could be a part of the solution, if just they got out of their cars and took another mode instead.

The Denver Gazette pointed out that one of those messages was stationed near the Colorado Capitol, and that both altered signs appeared the same night as a live recording of “The War on Cars” podcast.

Of course, the Denver vandal wasn’t the first to take part in a little reversible urban graffiti — or to take advantage of the surprisingly lax security around variable messaging signs, which can seemingly be easily altered after accessing the control pad with a password that many communities don’t even bother to change from its factory setting.

Pranksters from New York City to Encinitas, Calif. and have done it before, though some of their messages have playfully attempted to shift the autocentric status qo (like this Halloween-themed one that announced “No driving allowed; kids are trick-or-treating”) while others … not so much (like this “Welcome to Fart City” masterpiece.)

Of course, Streetsblog would never recommend that its readers hack a sign … which is why we made these virtual ones, perfect for sharing without risking arrest! And just for fun, we gave them a little holiday twist … and some of the worst puns we could think of.

Let’s start with a gimme:

Too dark? Try this one:

Way too dark? OK, OK …

Let’s take a page from our old friend Tom Flood’s book on this next one.

Let’s make this a little more multi-denominational …

(And yes, that goes for EV drivers too.)

Anyway: we’ll spare you all a tortured Kwanzaa pun and end on this:

Got one of your own? Put it in the comments or drop us a line.