Annals of Motordom – 54

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ANARCHY ON THE STREETS

As Peter Norton details in his definitive book on Motordom – Fighting Traffic – the public safety campaign was a key strategy in crafting a “social reconsideration of the street.”  And Vancouver had its version: 100 Deathless Days.

From Past Tense:

…  the (Vancouver) Sun  … in conjunction with the Traffic Safety Council, launched “100 Deathless Days.” The idea was to cajole the city’s motorists to be extra cautious for 100 consecutive days beginning 1 July 1939. ..

However, unlike the campaigns to shame ‘jaywalkers’ into keeping off the streets except on crosswalks, leaving the streets for speeding motorists, The Sun was rather more critical:

Pedestrians weren’t to blame either in the Sun’s view. Sure, they do foolish things, but “so long as motorists go on assuming that the pedestrian has no rights, we might as well pack our Deathless Days Campaign away in mothballs with the New Year’s Resolutions and admit we don’t want to save lives.” Unless Vancouver drivers adjusted their attitudes, we might as well “admit that we haven’t got what it takes to stop killing people” and should just accept that Vancouverites are simply of “weaker moral fibre” than Winnipeggers …

More fascinating details here.

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CARS = FREEDOM

Literally, according to Dodge: