China’s Shanghai Daily reports on a somewhat novel solution to jaywalking. Traffic officials in Hangzhou, China, have turned to Tom & Jerry cartoons in an experiment to keep pedestrians occupied while the light changes:
The number of jaywalkers declined by almost 40 percent after the traffic authority began to broadcast Tom and Jerry cartoons on four flat-screen monitors at an intersection near West Lake, the newspaper reported, citing Yan Hao, a senior police officer from Hangzhou traffic police.
“I lack patience,” a chef who works in downtown Hangzhou is quoted as saying, “but I won’t jaywalk anymore now that they have the entertaining cartoons.”
August 8th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
Now if they could just switch to tentacle porn after say, 10pm.
August 8th, 2006 at 6:20 pm
Another small step towards total alienation.
August 8th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
I think that would make me want to cross faster. I don’t like Tom and Jerry.
August 9th, 2006 at 12:39 am
This is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.
August 9th, 2006 at 6:32 am
What’s really terrifying is that in China, Tom & Jerry have been given voices. Not jsut dubbing over any sounds they or Spike the Dog make but full blown invented dialogue for Tom and Jerry. Its makes one quite sad.
August 9th, 2006 at 9:37 am
Geez – China must be worse off than I thought if Tom and Jerry are considered “entertaining” cartoons. Get these folks 10ccs of Coyote and RoadRunner cartoons, STAT!
Seriously, though, that’s a weird solution to a problem. I wonder if the screens automatically shut off when its time to walk, or if they’re going to have a problem with congestion as folks get sucked into watching an entire episode.