Inventing a Crime to Sell CarsA made-up word completely changed our public spaces.

From the show

It really happened

A deliberate PR campaign by the auto industry in the 1920s redefined public streets as car-only zones. To combat a public relations crisis over rising traffic deaths, car companies invented the derogatory term "jaywalking" to shift blame onto pedestrians. This shaming tactic was so effective it led to new laws, criminalizing what was once normal behavior and fundamentally altering our cities and our relationship with public space.