Madam, - Bill Cullen believes that the two new road safety advertisements are "unlikely to change driver or pedestrian behaviour." (November 21st). He could be right. Only time will tell.
He goes on to say "there should be adverts about speeding or people using their mobile phones while driving, but this campaign says nothing about those issues." He is mistaken. These advertisements say a lot about speed, inappropriate speed, momentary inattention, carelessness, and the catastrophic consequences when these come together in the wrong place at the wrong time - no matter what car brand happens to be involved. It could happen to anyone. It could be me or you. Pay attention or pay the price - that is the message.
Two existing advertisements on drink-driving ( "Shame") and seat-belts ( "Damage"), picked up three awards on Friday from the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland. The awards were for the effectiveness - measured change in attitudes and behaviour. We do not make advetisements to win awards. We make them to help save lives. Achieving an award for effectiveness is reassuring - and rewarding for all involved in the challenge of creating and delivering the advertisements.
We do not claim that these ad's work on their own. They work as part of a combined effort on enforcement, education and engineering - the core activities in the Road to Safety Strategy of the Government.
Unlike Bill I am optimistic that these new advertisments will also be effective because I think more people pay more attention to the safety message rather than the brand of the vehicle involved.That is why we immediately adjusted the appearance of the car to get the advertisements back on air rapidly. The car is not important - behaviour is the primary killer.
Three hundred and fifty people have been killed on our roads this year so far - 11 less than last year. Over the next 5 weeks, to the end of the year, we can expect about 40 to 50 deaths and 160 to 200 serious injuries. Four hundred and eleven people were killed on our roads last year. It could be a wonderful Christmas present for some families if the number this year could be below 400. After all, these are not just numbers, they are people.
To achieve this all you and I have to do is slow down, don't drink and drive, use seatbelts and child safety seats and be a little more attentive as road users. We might never know it but we could have delivered that wonderful Christmas present to someone very close to us. - Yours, etc.,
E. A. SHAW, Chairman, National Safety Council, 4 Northbrook Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6