# PSA: Don't walk in front of a moving car. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860 "2011-12-30T18:52:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860/1 "2011-12-30T18:52:25Z")
Also: Don’t step out of moving bus right in front of street light pole. It seems life was simpler in 1948, if [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=993sEQJfDUA&feature=related) was the country’s first commercial. (And ambulances weren’t necessary, I guess. Passers-by just carried you to the hospital.) ---
**Author:** ![UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/46a35a/32.png) [@UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UFC_Is_Sux)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860/2 "2011-12-30T19:17:11Z")
When I was in the service, AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) used to run a commercial multiple times per hour reminding you not to shop for groceries when you’re hungry. I guess the government’s idea of compelling television isn’t all that and a bag of potato chips. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860/3 "2011-12-30T20:12:26Z")
I could have used this PSA when I was first in the Navy. I don’t know how it is now, but in the early 70s on Navy bases, all vehicles had to stop if pedestrians were in or near a crosswalk. I got used to just walking on my merry way. Then I went home on leave and was walking in downtown Baltimore with my dad - he had to grab my arm and pull me back as I prepared to step off the curb. Not one of my smarter moments. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860/4 "2011-12-30T20:15:03Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Passers-by just carried you to the hospital.) That is awesome, just grab a limb and start walking. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860/5 "2011-12-30T20:19:07Z")
Interesting that the 1948 commercial shows each victim being picked up and carried somewhere. Guess they never heard of broken bones. Imagine what moving the body can do if there are internal injuries. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860/6 "2011-12-30T20:38:53Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I could have used this PSA when I was first in the Navy. I don’t know how it is now, but in the early 70s on Navy bases, all vehicles had to stop if pedestrians were in or near a crosswalk. I got used to just walking on my merry way. I don’t know how common it is elsewhere, but by me there are several cities with a pedestrian-heavy downtown area (Royal Oak, Berkley, Ferndale, Birmingham MI) where that is the rule. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860/7 "2011-12-30T21:37:23Z")
Wall\*Mart` has many folks thinking they can do that just anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860/8 "2011-12-30T22:26:44Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > That is awesome, just grab a limb and start walking. They left that one guy’s hat! Do you suppose it’s still there? It’s a pretty neat hat. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860/9 "2011-12-30T23:14:20Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > They left that one guy’s hat! Do you suppose it’s still there? It’s a pretty neat hat. The first “victim” actually secures his hat when they pick him up off the ground. (Maybe he’s used to the routine.) In fact, if you just listen to the music and ignore the narration, it actually seems like the movie was made to show you how to run people over in an orderly manner. Especially when they carry off the first guy, and it immediately goes into a triumphant horn crescendo. ---
**Author:** ![dudemanjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@dudemanjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dudemanjack)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860/10 "2011-12-31T05:55:44Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I don’t know how common it is elsewhere, but by me there are several cities with a pedestrian-heavy downtown area (Royal Oak, Berkley, Ferndale, Birmingham MI) where that is the rule. Just because the rule/law is that pedestrians have the right of way in a crosswalk doesn’t make getting hit by a car less painful/deadly. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-dont-walk-in-front-of-a-moving-car/607860/11 "2011-12-31T16:46:27Z")
> [@dudemanjack](#): > > Just because the rule/law is that pedestrians have the right of way in a crosswalk doesn’t make getting hit by a car less painful/deadly. Well, the notion that cars should defer to pedestrians in any way at all is more an exception than a rule in the world at large. This ad is more saying, “If you haven’t noticed, there are these new mechanical things in the street now, and they can kill you if you aren’t careful. And don’t get off of a moving bus, by the way.”