Peatonito, Mexico City's Masked Defender of Pedestrians, Takes On NYC Laura Bliss - CityLab
go to original March 14, 2016

Peatónito is in NYC: Protecting Pedestrians from Cars in the Crosswalk (StreetFilms)

Peatónito, Mexico City’s caped defender of pedestrian rights, exists to put cars in their place - literally. When villainous drivers rudely nose their cars into crosswalks, the man in the black and white stripes and luchador headgear will shove them back where they belong. With arms outstretched like the world’s most confident traffic conductor, he’ll wait for all pedestrians to cross safely. And when drivers aren’t paying attention, Peatónito jumps up on their hoods and walks right over them. Now that’s the kind of hero cities need.

Who is that masked man? As Sarah Goodyear wrote in 2013, Peatónito (“little pedestrian”) is the alter ego of Jorge Cáñez, a Mexico City-based political scientist who protects pedestrian rights in all kinds of quirky ways (spray-painting DIY crosswalks, for example). With some of the highest pedestrian fatality rates in the world, Mexico City can certainly use his bravery.

But New York City was getting a little dose last week, with Peatónito in town for the Transportation Alternatives Vision Zero for Cities Conference.

Read the rest at CityLab

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