Cardboard Cutouts of Kids Slow Traffic Down

Tired of drivers speeding by in front of his house, Mike Wood of Ohio created life-size cardboard cutouts of his children and put them up in his front yard.

So far, Wood said it has worked. Motorists have slowed down, and some have even yelled at Wood for letting his children play so close to the street. [...]
His idea has already been posted on some law enforcement Web sites around the country. He's now selling the signs for $60.

Link - via Hemmy and Blue's News

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I think it's a great, inventive idea. I don't think it would be useful to standardize them for the great reasons listed above by other commenters (misuse, getting used to it) but frankly, the blame for an accident still wouldn't be on the cutout guys' shoulders. We don't know what this guy's street looks like, maybe you can see the cutout for a while coming if you're paying attention. If the driver swerved out of the way for a still cutout that's on the property (it's not in the street, as you can see in the picture), it's still the driver's fault for speeding or not paying attention. I don't see why you'd want to take it out on the homeowner for putting a still object on his property in order to quell an established problem, instead of the reckless driver who actually hit your car. I think it would be effective even if it were a little further from the street. Cops already do this (cutouts of cop cars make people hit the brakes really fast, and the cops can do something a little more intense than sit in a speed trap and wait to catch people).

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I would LOVE to get about 10 of those and get up real early and place them all around my sleeping wife just to freak her out when she wakes up!

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I startle easily. If I saw one of those at the last minute, I might have an accident. I'm not a "dopey driver". I just have ultra-sensitive reflexes.

As others have said, it's also a form of "crying wolf". For example, my neighbours' kids might be being abducted because they're screaming their heads off in the yard. But they do that all the time, so nobody pays any attention anymore. The same thing could easily happen with these signs.

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Yes, I empathise with him concerning speeding drivers. Nonetheless, if his kiddie lawn ornaments spook a dopey driver into crashing into my car and hurting my family members, I would make him very very sorry.