Mimes, the silent weapon against bad driving

The Mayor of Caracas is sending 120 mimes out onto the streets in an effort to counter the rampant road rage and lawless driving in Venezuela’s capital city. The city of Caracas is renowned for having some of the worst behaved drivers on the planet. The basic rules of driving are exemplified by the traffic light system. Green means GO and red means GO FAST, before the other guy goes.

A typical scene on the streets of Caracas

Mayor Payaso Asesino has enlisted the help of the mimes to encourage drivers to be more aware of their surroundings in a simple and non-confrontational way. The mimes wag their fingers and point to a road signs which a driver may have not seen or just ignored. They walk against the wind on crosswalks to allow pedestrians to cross in safety and they visually chastise jaywalkers.

I feel so boxed in by this job

After only 3 weeks it appears that Mayor Asesino's plan is backfiring. Reaction to the mines has been somewhat mixed so far, with some drivers just flipping them off, or ignoring them while others actively try to run them over.

So far, 7 mimes have been injured while performing traffic duties, mostly while working crosswalks. They have all cited the uniform as being the major cause of them getting hurt. "The color scheme is not conducive with the road crossing role" said one of the injured mimes. "We need some kind of high visibility vest to help us to get noticed." We then reminded him he was a mime and was not supposed to speak.

The addition of a red scarf breaks the camouflage

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