
From USA Today this week:
Highway safety campaigns across the USA increasingly are reflecting the nation's diversity.
State traffic agencies are tailoring safe driving campaigns to reflect growth in minority groups and even refugee communities where English is not fully understood.
Uh-oh.
In Ohio, officials designing a seat-belt campaign aimed at the state's large Somali refugee population wanted to adapt the popular "Click it or ticket" slogan but found that "ticket" doesn't translate.
"They don't have a government in Somalia, so 'ticket' doesn't mean anything to them," says Tina O'Grady, administrator of the state's Traffic Safety Office. "We ended up translating it as 'Strap it, or lose your livestock,' which also means your money or income or livelihood."
Strap it or lose you livestock? Somehow, I don't think we're putting Safety First.
Update: My Marine Mom friend writes, "If we let these people in the USA and we cannot teach them to understand CLICK IT OR TICKET what chance do we have to win hearts and minds in Afghanistan?"