The Blame Game: How the Car Industry Shifted Responsibility to Pedestrians

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In 1924, the car industry took action to shift responsibility for accidents away from themselves by establishing a service to send accident reports to the press. This led to a narrative where 70 to 90% of accidents were portrayed as the fault of pedestrians. The industry also utilized posters and propaganda, introducing the term 'Jay Walking' as a derogatory label for pedestrians. The term aimed to stigmatize and deter people from their traditional way of walking, leveraging the power of language and media to deflect blame and avoid accountability.

In 1991, two police officers stopped Tupac Shakur for jaywalking. He said he was knocked unconscious during his arrest, and sued the city of Oakland for 10 million dollars. His lawyer says many of the police brutality cases he's worked on started with jaywalking stops.

Peter Norton’s book is Fighting Traffic.

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