No, Fairfax City Does Not Want You To Run Over Pedestrians: Video

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — In spite of what a video posted on TikTok might have you believe, the City of Fairfax does not want you to run over jaywalking pedestrians in order to teach them a lesson.

A video posted to TikTok by the user @hamandgreenpepperomelette shows the back of a Fairfax City CUE bus with a bogus sign that reads: "Don't stop for pedestrians if they jaywalk. Let them learn a lesson." Next to it is the photo of a young woman with a tire track stamped across her cheek.

"Unfortunately there is an edited video going around social media of a CUE bus with this fake ad edited onto the back of it," CUE Transit Manager Ryan Visci told Patch in an email on Thursday. "The bus in the photo is indeed ours, but was replaced back in spring, so the video/image is quite old."

The image originated in 2013 as part of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' Street Smart Safety Campaign, which included a variety of "Tired Faces" ads that appeared on bus shelters and the backs and sides of buses. Each sign showed a person's face stamped with a tire mark and a message highlighting a behavior that would put a bicyclist, pedestrian or motorist at risk for injury or death. The "Tired Faces" campaign ran until 2017.

Be safe and remember to never chase the bus because you might catch a car instead! #BusSafety pic.twitter.com/TXhgHNztxs
— DASH Bus (@DASHBus) February 3, 2015

The Alexandria DASH Bus system shared the original, unaltered image from the TikTok video in a Feb. 3, 2015 post on its official Twitter account. The message on the sign reads: "Chase a bus and you might catch a car. Don't run for the bus."

Since the TikTok video was posted, it has garnered more than 3.3 million views and popped up on social media feeds around Fairfax, including the City of Fairfax Community group started by City Council Member So Lim.

Lim launched the private group in March 2020 for residents to share news and resources during the pandemic. The page lists Lim, her campaign website, and John Park as the administrators of the private group.

A group member shared the TikTok video at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 30, 2022. All posts shared to the group must be approved by one of the administrators before they become live in the group.

In April 2022, Patch reported that Lim removed an antisemitic meme from the same group. The text of that post sought to connect the debate then going on about changing street names in the Mosby Woods neighborhood to a "one world society" aimed at destroying culture. The post included a link to a video and the "Soros organization chart."

The Anti-Defamation League has identified conspiracies linked to George Soros, a Hungarian-American Jewish businessman and Holocaust survivor, as a trope used by extreme right-wing and racist groups to spread hate and disinformation. The ADL also says the trope is based in antisemitism.

Patch reached out to Lim Thursday evening to determine if she was the administrator who approved the post with the TikTok meme. Patch also asked whether it was appropriate for an elected official to share a post that showed a city bus with a message encouraging people to run over jaywalkers on a social media group they administered.

No response has been received from Lim; Patch will update this story with her comments.

Pedestrian fatalities have grown to record numbers in the area in recent years. Drivers in Fairfax County struck and killed at least 29 pedestrians in 2022, the most pedestrian deaths in a single year in the county since at least 2010, according to state data.

The increase in pedestrian deaths in Fairfax County follows a national trend. In 2021, drivers struck and killed an estimated 7,485 people on foot in the U.S., the most pedestrian deaths in a single year in four decades and an average of 20 deaths every day, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik, who was sworn in on Thursday as the new chair of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, identified pedestrian safety as the most pressing transportation issue facing Fairfax County and the region at large.

“Pedestrian safety has been at the forefront of community concerns here in Fairfax," Palchik said. "Last year, more than 20 pedestrians were involved in fatal crashes. All of us need to work together to ensure our streets are safe and pedestrian safety remains a top priority."