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Retrospectives transport

Hector the Cat

Teaching kids to cross the road safely is a matter of laying out the basic rules, and continual practice. I’d thought over the years it might be easier if the Hector The Cat song was still run on TV, as the lyrics helps make it easy to remember what to do.

Happily, thanks to YouTube, it’s been found again.

(via Mark O’Meara)

By Daniel Bowen

Transport blogger / campaigner and spokesperson for the Public Transport Users Association / professional geek.
Bunurong land, Melbourne, Australia.
Opinions on this blog are all mine.

8 replies on “Hector the Cat”

I don’t recall Hector, but this is simple and effective.

Given that the states and territories are responsible for roads, I am surprised that this ad seems to have emanated from the Commonwealth Department of Transport.

My son (4yo) heard me watching it and wanted to watch it again, and again, and again, and again…. I don’t suppose I really mind. As long as he gets the point.

This would be good advice to follow for newcomers to Australia from the other side of the planet. Crossing the street is a very ingrained behavior and it took about 3 weeks before I felt I could cross the street here safely without thinking about it after arriving from the US. At an intersection you just cannot wrap your head around which way the traffic is coming from (4 streets of traffic which are opposite from what you are used to) while trying to cross safely. It was actually far easier for me to adjust to driving on the opposite side of the road. One hazard we have in the US is cars making a right turn at a red light (legal to do most places in the US) into traffic and having to watch out for this when crossing.

@jed: similar left turns into traffic against red lights are legal in NSW at some intersections, I believe, although there are none in Victoria that I’m aware of.
When in Hawaii recently I almost killed myself looking the wrong way on a highway, so it’s pretty easy .. :)

Not sure if it was a rumour all those years ago, when they pulled Hector Cat off the air is that the dude in it was actually hit by a car?

Myth? not sure

Loved Hector though. Brought back memories.

Classic! Thanks Daniel! I was singing along with it… :)

BTW, the ‘crossing guard’ at my high school was dubbed ‘Hector’ as a result of these ads – I’m sure plenty of other guards got the same treatment.

BTW, he – the crossing guard – was not amused by the name ‘Hector.’

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