Driver points to ad campaign for his digitally enhanced road rage
David Braithwaite
November 1, 2007
A SYDNEY man has blamed the Roads and Traffic Authority's "little pinky" advertising campaign for a fit of road rage, saying that a woman's wiggling little finger implied he had a small penis. Simon Jardak was fined $400 by a magistrate yesterday after an accusatory finger on the Anzac Bridge enraged him so much he threw a plastic bottle out of his car window, hitting the gesturing woman's car.
Jardak blamed his malicious damage charge on the RTA's anti-speeding campaign, in which hoons are mocked with wagging little fingers, suggesting they have tiny penises. He told Richard Glover's Drive program on ABC 702 that the RTA's relentless promotion of the "little pinky" gesture had made it more offensive to males than the traditional "middle finger". The 'finger', it's so common now, that we're over it, but this finger is a whole new thing and it's been promoted so much everybody knows it and you just get offended," he said.
Jardak told the ABC his digital diminishment was sparked by a clash with a female motorist over a lane change. "She started flashing her lights, sticking her finger up, which didn't offend me too much, but then she started to use that [little pinky] gesture and I was offended by it," he said. "So I took offence, because, you know, any man would, and I got a bit angry and we had a bit of an argument, sort of, you know, gestures, and then I just threw my bottle out the window."
The "little pinky" gesture towards a man was akin to sexual assault, Jardak said. "I just was angry and I threw it out the window, and I ended up hitting her car, and I get charged pretty much for being sexually assaulted by her, you know what I mean," he said. "If I said something about a girl, something she had, if I had mentioned they were small, I think they would be offended, too … I regret it now, but being assaulted has affected me and offended me."
The RTA's Jack Whelan told the ABC the campaign was meant to demean behaviour, not individuals, and it did not take responsibility for people "throwing bottles out of their window". "What we are trying to do with this campaign - we certainly accept it's controversial - we are trying to make it very, very clear that speeding is in itself very offensive behaviour," he said.
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This is probably quite interesting in some kind of sociological way that I don't know the term for... the idea that government propaganda has included a hand gesture to use against other drivers is just bizarre. What do you do if it's a woman speeding though?
