Venezuelan drivers given the silent treatment

Authorities in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas have resorted to the silent treatment to control the traffic in one of the city's more troublesome districts. About 120 mimes dressed in clown-like outfits took to the streets of the Sucre district, wagging their fingers at those violiating traffic rules.



They found plenty to keep them busy in a city where motorcycle riders roar along pavements, buses drop passengers in the middle of busy streets and drivers treat red lights and speed limits as suggestions rather than orders."Most people are collaborating, but bad habits are usually hard to break and some drivers just don't change their ways," said mime Neidy Suarez.

A typical day in Caracas.

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"Some people get angry when we reprimand them," she said, explaining how some drivers shout insults after getting a silent rebuke. "But most people react agreeably and some have offered compliments," Miss Suarez said.



The mayor of Sucre, Carlos Ocariz, is the man who brought in the mimes to encourage civility among reckless drivers, riders and careless pedestrians. The mime idea is not new. Antanas Mockus, a former mayor of Bogota in Colombia, successfully combined mimes and stricter police enforcement to control traffic there.