Drive Like Your Kids Live Here
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These signs are proliferating in Preston Hollow and I’ve seen a few in the Park Cities. Anyone seen them? They are the creation of a Wethersfield, Ct. woman, Petulia Pugliares, who lives between two elementary schools and a high school and thinks people there drive too fast. She has witnessed several accidents and was even struck by a car herself.
Well Petulia honey, if they are driving too fast in Ct. let me tell you what they are doing in Texas, where we have a highway that lets us hit 120 mph. Drivers are on speed steroids here in Dallas. Not that it makes a difference, any fast-moving car is dangerous, but we drive bigger cars that are like missiles — trucks, SUVs, and Hummers. And she’s right — people DO drive too fast, endangering people and stray pets. Petulia’s creation attempts to create an empathy campaign to solicit or elicit empathy in the viewer of the sign. It sort of reels them in, reminds them of what’s really important, like their kids, and hopefully makes them slow down.
So much nicer than what my sign would say: “Slow Down You EFF*#@!! IDIOTS!”
“Cars go by way too fast, especially during the morning and evening commute,” says Pugliares, who has witnessed numerous accidents, and was even struck by a car herself as she walked the neighborhood. Frustrated, she came up with a simple campaign to try to get drivers to slow down.
Her message, printed on bright, red lawn and street signs reads “Drive Like Your Kids Live Here.”
Pugliares’ words seem to work. “It has that hit-home effect. It really resonates and makes them slow down,” she told ABC News.”
The idea is catching on now even in Dallas. I’ve contacted Pugliares, who works as an insurance agent by day, to ask her who the first Dallas sign recipient was. And also, how many more requests she is getting from car crazy Texas? ABC News says has “sold and donated 4,000 of the signs to cities, community organizations and schools.”
Well, that’s a start. Have you seen these signs? Do you think they will make people slow down? Would they be a great gift to a homeowner from a Realtor?
In my opinion, the Soccer Moms are the worst offenders because they are racing kids off to lessons and practice, trying to get there on time. I know — I was one of them!
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Yes, I’ve seen them in Lake Highlands, and I think they’re obnoxious – probably because I don’t have kids and loathe the presumption. If a jerk drives too fast, they probably don’t have kids either, and probably are driving too fast to care about the sign. But who knows! I drive slow to make sure I don’t hit the squirrels that are constantly running onto the street.
I’d post the sign if it said this: Run over my dog and I’ll sue you …. or slow down. You choose.
Our street in Lake Highlands posted these signs for about a week: http://lakehighlands.advocatemag.com/2014/06/drive-like-kids-live-signs-trend-thatll-save-lives/ It’s in the great White Rock Valley area, an area that doesn’t seem to be recognized that’s on par with Lakewood and the like (White Rock Elementary is fabulous and many of the homes have been taken down to the studs and redone. When the houses we saw in Lakewood were too old for us, White Rock Valley suited our tastes much better).
Personally, I don’t have kids (yet) but people do blitz down our street all the time and it’s annoying. If I’d known how much traffic our street actually gets we might not have bought our house.
Saw several in the Sparkman Club / Timber Trail quadrant yesterday. I suspect the red sign on top will peel away to reveal “Clinton 2016” underneath.
These are now popping up in sections of East Dallas as well… I want to say I saw a couple in the M streets.