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Teaching kids about being safe when crossing streets is important. But kids being kids, you’ve really got to capture their attention. What better way than a monster truck? This exchange appeared today on the New Hill East neighborhood listserv:

Yesterday afternoon on the 200 block of 12th St SE there was a large white trailer and a huge truck. It looked like one of those trucks that run over cars at shows. It had huge tires and blocked 12th St for at least 1 hour. Does anyone know anything about this?

And the response, from a local producer:

We were filming a section of a public service video about pedestrian safety. The target audience is 7-10 year olds so we’re doing a “Mythbuster” style piece in which teen hosts set up experiments that teach about safety basics. Today’s experiment was about stepping out from between parked cars. We had an MPD officer driving some civilian vehicles down the street, but nothing makes it clearer that stepping out into the street is a bad idea than a huge monster truck coming at you.

That would have worked for me.