An ‘Over-Developed Sense Of Social Justice’ On Ad: BENN
Saturday columnist Ron Benn weighs in on the controversial city road-safety advertisement:
Here is a blunt message for councillors Shawn Menard and Marty Carr whose knee jerk-reactions were to scold public works’ Alain Gonthier for “victim blaming”. Grow up.
Your positions as councillors should not be limited to displaying your over-developed sense of social justice. Your position as leaders in this city requires that you ask questions first to get a better understanding of the why, rather than just try to grab for a media mention to enhance your public-profile metrics.
Graphic City Accident Ad Stirs Controversy
Not every tragedy is the result of mistakes made solely by the driver. Sometimes it is the fault of the person who stepped into traffic without looking both ways (29 per cent). Sometimes it is the fault of the pedestrian who entered the crosswalk when there was a green light for oncoming traffic (11 per cent). Sometimes the fault is shared between the driver and the pedestrian.
It is invariably the pedestrian or cyclist or skateboarder who suffers the lion’s share of the physical damage in a physical interaction with a vehicle. Thus the need for a campaign to educate/remind pedestrians that they bear the primary responsibility for their own safety. If it takes graphic pictures to accomplish that, so be it.
Finally, kudos to Gonthier for a well-written memo that answers the questions that Menard and Carr should have asked.
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Well I’m probably straying onto the politically incorrect, but I remember in the 60s, when the system was trying to impress on teenaged me the importance of driving carefully. In Toronto then, I think it was a pro drivers club or something like that which improved your insurance rates if you took the course. Part of this course was a bunch of horror pictures of fatal accidents. I still remember the sight of a poor flat bed truck driver whose load of pipes went through him in an accident. No idea if I behaved better after that but my insurance rates were a bit lower. Then I was floating the idea of buying a motorcycle around the house, and my big brother chimed in telling me that one of the common injuries in motorcycle crashes was castration; whether true or not. Well that did hit home I think, because I was in my 30s and a bit more careful before I bought my first motorcycle. In the end, if by doing something dumb I had killed myself in a car accident, or castrated myself on a motorcycle I would have been a “victim” I suppose. But by modifying my choices, perhaps that helped me avoid being a “victim.” I don’t see anything wrong with the ads.
John:
I don’t see anything wrong with the ads either.
cheers
kgray
I find the continual efforts to place all of the blame for everything on one side wearying. Very very wearying. No willingness to understand the big picture. Just a quick jump to judgement. Thus my short temper when I read the quotes from Councillors Menard and Carr. I am not so naive as to think that they are capable of change. And that too is wearying.
What this city needs is some real leadership. Someone who is prepared to lead by example. By stating clearly and unequivocally that there are no simple solutions to complex problems. Someone who is prepared to respond to these shallow wannabe leaders that their virtue signals plus 75 cents buys them nothing at the Dollar Store. That there is more to leadership than chasing “likes” on social media. Someone who is prepared to say out loud that the hyperbole that passes for input from the chattering classes is just a waste of oxygen. No more effective that some pixy dust picked up at the Disney store. Someone who acknowledges that often the solution is to chip away, day after day, slowly but surely until something approximating measurable progress has been made. And that often that process will take well beyond their current term in office.
Over to you Mayor Sutcliffe. You have three years to put your stamp on this city. Show us that you are capable of leading. Really leading. Because to date, underwhelming is the upgrade position on your first almost year of wearing the Chain of Office.
Now, where did I put that single malt?
It is not illegal to cross outside of a cross walk. Only you must do so when safe. if you are wrong and are hit, the driver is not usually “at fault”. That is all.
I was the victim of a hit and run on a bike following traffic rules where a car cut over 2 lanes and turned in front of me. I chased them down in heavy traffic on a damaged bike and the police were called. Vehicles vs pedestrians, bikes and motorbikes always come up less damaged. The larger vehicles have larger chance of harming due to the blindspots and drivers adapting.