Out of line: New Zealand girl gets sexist road signs changed

Seven-year-old Zoe Carew knew it wasn’t right when she saw people working on power lines near the road and a warning sign that read “LINEMEN.”

Her dad was driving Zoe and her brother to their grandparents’ place in a suburb near Wellington at the time, Zoe explained in an email to the head of the New Zealand Transport Agency.

She wrote that she talked about the sign with her dad and wondered why it said “men” when women can also be line workers. She suggested they change the signs.

It turns out that agency chief executive Fergus Gammie agrees. He wrote back to Zoe saying they would phase in new signs that read “LINE CREW.”

On Twitter this week, the agency said great ideas can come from anyone. Even 7-year-olds.