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December 1, 2007

Visibility is the New Black!

Someone should use this slogan for a public safety campaign -- it's available. You know, like, "we all like to hate on hipsters and make fun of the Goth, but no one actually wants to kill one with their car. Visibility: it's the New Black!"

I've been stewing about the need for more visiblity for awhile (2003 -- OMG!! have I mentioned that my 500th entry is coming up??) -- anyway, with the recent publicity around how the switch off of Daylight Savings Time to leads to more pedestian deaths, I've been thinking about it a lot again.

I personally take ridiculous -- that is, easily ridiculed -- lengths to ensure my visibility while walking (not that it works -- I was almost run over today by a driver making a left-hand turn across the pedestrian walk -- grrr). I have a rechargable flashlight, Pica has a reflective collar, and I'm wearing either a reflective vest or my most recent purchase, a reflective yellow rain slicker. And that's during the daylight hours!! LOL! I can't get enough reflective stuff!

But that's me. Not the guy on skate board wearing a black hoodie, black jeans, in the traffic lane on a rainy night. Who I saw. And didn't hit. Thank Goodness.

Someone commenting here says that "The UK tried year-round DST from 1968-1971; apparently accidental deaths dropped by 2,500 over two years." So that's an interesting thought. But in the meantime ...

I'm considering putting some orange safety vests in the can where I put my deposit bottles out because I really worry about the bottle collectors who cruise around on their invisible bikes. And maybe I'll get some for the car so I can pull over and hand them out after I've almost killed one.

But just because of my personal issues, I'm a lot more likely to be able to handle a conversation with a bottle collector, who can't afford a safety jacket or lights, than a hipster, who should be able to invest the $20 or so to live another day, but may not because they are limited by their fashion sensibilities. So, I'll stick to visibility for the homeless and gift my slogan to the world, because it's needed:

Visibility: It's the New Black!!

Also -- visibility products are a great gift idea! Like a fire extinguisher, it shows you care enough to give the gift of life!

Posted by mary at December 1, 2007 8:55 PM

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Posted by: Rich Magahiz at December 3, 2007 12:28 PM

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