The Road Safety Campaigns That Cause More Car Accidents

Richard Craig
September 26, 2010

Richard Craig
http://www.accidentadvicehelpline.co.uk

Britain is one of the safest countries in which to be a road user, according to the International Transport Forum, a Paris-based organisation which found that for every 100,000 road users in 2009, only 3.8 were killed. Obviously a figure of 0 is desirable, but in Malaysia the figure is 23.8.

This is to be applauded: in fact it seems that last year was something of a high watermark for road safety across the world, with 30 of the countries assessed registering a decline, leading the last ten years to be described by the ITF as a "record decade for road safety".

This is thanks to better safety awareness, more stringent policing, safer vehicles and a more difficult driving test. Yesterday Accident Advice Helpline News described the changing attitudes towards speeding in this country. The common assertion is that excess speed kills, pure and simple. This is not strictly true: the average speed of motorway traffic is much greater than elsewhere, and despite accounting for 25% of a car’s mileage in its lifetime, only 6% of car accident fatalities occur on this type of road. It is excess speed in built-up areas that poses the greatest threat to humn lives: the well-used mantra ‘It’s 30 (miles per hour) for a reason’ continues to be ignored by many motorists, of all ages and both sexes, because they are ‘careless, reckless, or in a hurry’ (according to a 2008 Association of British Drivers report).

Given the UK’s impressive record, it is hard, therefore, not to raise an eyebrow when some well-meaning but poorly-conceived road safety campaigns are launched.

A billboard in Yorkshire has come in for some criticism after it, very ironically, has been posted near a dangerous bend bearing the legend, ‘Oiii, eyes on the road’ before continuing, ‘What’s so important? Concentrate on the road’ in smaller text.

One man who uses the route regularly said, “I can understand the message but surely placing a poster like this on a very difficult bend is going to cause someone to crash.”

“I think it's bad enough anyway they are trying to get people to concentrate on the road but surely for this message to get across people would have to read it.”

This echoes a safety drive in Italy, where campaigners placed a series of wrecked cars, from real-life fatal car accidents, along a stretch of road in Lodi. Each wreck was embellished with a large piece of jigsaw, to reinforce the idea that speed is the missing part of the puzzle in crashes.

Of course, curious motorists became distracted by the arresting sight, and police have reported a significant increase in collisions since the wrecks appeared.

On the other hand, there are billboards that have nothing to do with road safety but still hold so many gazes that accidents are an inevitable consequence.

The main culprit is Wonderbra: in 1994 its advert featuring a scantily clad Eva Herzigova greeting male onlookers with the slogan ‘Hello Boys’ was blamed for increased car accidents up and down the country, presumably due to male drivers, one assumes.

Now, they are trying to bring that campaign into the 21st century with a new 3D poster of Brazilian model Sabraine Banando, which was unveiled outside Waterloo station yesterday, again to a wave of criticism from road safety commentators. The fact that the poster is rendered slightly out-of-focus unless the viewer is sporting 3D glasses makes it even more likely an accident will result, they say, as the observer will have to concentrate more than usual to see it.

In July, sportswear giant Reebok used a giant poster of a naked Kelly Brook to promote their latest trainers.

If these sort of advertising patterns continue, it seems like safety champions will have their work cut out…

----------------------------------------------------
Richard Craig writes primarily about the legal and social implications of car accidents

http://www.accidentadvicehelpline.co.uk/road_traffic_accident_claims/car_accident_claims/