Does Canada need brightly-dressed mime-cops, too?

Drivers speeding through yellow lights. Pedestrians jay-walking across busy streets. If you had to admit it, you've probably seen your fair share of traffic violators, no matter where you live in Canada.

But there's a simple solution to a problem like ours: send in the clowns.

That's the reasoning in Venezuela, anyway, where according to Fox News, 120 white-faced mimes in neon colours have been hired to silently scold traffic scofflaws in one city.

The mayor of Caracas, Venezuela, picked up the idea from a Colombian city that also faced a bout of motoring mayhem and solved it with a mimes-and-stricter-police-enforcement program.

The mimes assist police in directing traffic, and glare, pout or otherwise pantomime angrily when people don't obey traffic signs or get too close to pedestrians. (Not going to make an obvious "silent treatment" joke, here.)

Most violators react agreeably, admitting their mistake, but some have allegedly gotten angry.

The mimes face a tough time in the Venezuelan capital, where typical traffic violations include motorcycles speeding on sidewalks; heading the wrong way down one-way streets; and drivers reversing through traffic when they miss an exit.

Geez, maybe Canada's not that bad. Maybe all we need is, like, a few improv troupes instead?

(Fox News)