Haiku Street Safety Signs Unveiled By NYC DOT, Safe Streets Fund (MAP)

NYC's Secret Weapon To Keep Pedestrians Safe: Haikus

Using money from drunk driver fines, the NYC Department of Transportation has created 144 special new street signs featuring colorful artwork and safety messages written in haiku.

"Curbside Haiku," was created in partnership with the Safe Streets Fund, an advocacy group, and features 12 designs (pdf) from artist John Morse. The tongue-in-cheek warnings (Cyclist writes screenplay / Plot features bike lane drama / How pedestrian) each focus on a different transportation mode and are placed at high-crash locations near cultural institutions and schools across the city.

"We're putting poetry into motion with public art to make New York City's streets even safer," said Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. "These signs complement our engineering and education efforts to create a steady rhythm for safer streets in all five boroughs."

According to Safe Streets, "Half of the signs will be hung in pairs, with the image and text from its accompanying haiku. The other half will feature an image with a QR code that lets New Yorkers discover the safety message via their smartphones."

This isn't the first time the NYC DOT has gotten creative with its signage. Earlier this year the department unveiled speeding signs featuring skeletons.

The haiku signs will only be around until next Fall so if you want to give a special street safety message to someone for Christmas or a birthday or just because, you can buy posters here. All proceeds go to Safe Streets.

Check out the designs and a map of the locations below:

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