Westside : Sign Helps Protect Bodybuilders From Errant Drivers

Road-hazard signs nationwide warn motorists about all creatures great and small crossing the highway. Now, Venice has its own sign cautioning travelers about a different breed of animal.

“We don’t have deer, quail, frogs or armadillo crossing the roads here like other places, but we do have bodybuilders,” said Derek Barton, spokesman for Gold’s Gym in Venice.

To guard against accidents, the management at Gold’s a few years ago put up a sign at Hampton Drive and Sunset Avenue with an illustration of a muscle-bound bodybuilder with the word Crossing underneath. Hordes of the establishment’s pumped-up patrons often swarm across the intersection, seemingly oblivious to traffic.

The sign seems to be protecting Gold’s customers, who include celebrities Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen and Jodie Foster; there have been no car accidents since it went up, Barton said.

The sign has also become a tourist attraction. Employees say groups of foreign visitors often pose for pictures in front of it.

“It’s really become quite a landmark,” Barton said