The city of Milwaukee has surpassed even the “Blue Shirt” and “Wauwatosa Troll” models in absurdity: It has introduced a new cell phone to combat reckless driving that looks like it came out of a Dr. Seuss book and costs $88,000.
Officially, the city calls the monster an “art car.” The car is a “Ford pickup truck covered in traffic cones,” CBS-58 reported. According to the television station, the car is part of the city’s efforts to “combat reckless driving with art-based solutions.”
As opposed to, you know, adding more cops. Milwaukee Magazine reported that the artist’s next project may be “the installation of painted or etched human eyes along city streets to elicit an empathetic response.”
“The City of Milwaukee has unveiled the Moving City, an art car created by our first Public Artist in Residence (PAIR) Sarah Davitt. The mobile artwork is designed to educate and raise awareness about the dangers of reckless driving and will be used by Vision as an informational tool at events throughout the city,” the Milwaukee DPW wrote on its Facebook page, sharing a series of photos of the mobile.
“Every time I talk about it, I try to remove ‘reckless’ from the topic because ‘reckless’ is a word that is indefinable,” Davitt said, according to Urban Milwaukee. “It allows you to point the finger at everyone else. It doesn’t allow you to point the finger at yourself and say, ‘What am I doing?'”
According to Urban Milwaukee, “The total cost of the project was $88,000, according to a city official. That included funding for Davitt and a staff member, as well as materials and subcontractors. The funds came from the city’s Arts Committee’s annual budget.”
“See it today until 1 p.m. at Red Arrow Park at Heart(beats) of the City, hosted by Milwaukee Downtown, and then from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Vel Phillips Plaza during the MKE Night Market. For a full list of events where you can see it, visit milwaukee.gov/VisionZero,” the city’s post said.
The website gets serious: “The City of Milwaukee has adopted Vision Zero and needs your help to reduce traffic fatalities by 2037.” According to the city’s dashboard, 43 people have been killed and 2,929 injured in 2,064 crashes since January.
Some of the art car’s traffic cones are “engraved with city landmarks, including St. Josaphat’s Basilica, North Point Water Tower and more,” Milwaukee Magazine reported.
The article noted that the artist “counters her actions with ‘punitive measures’ such as fines and speed bumps.”
You know, those penalties that actually prevent reckless driving.
