Road Safety ads in N Ireland!

[kiyan]

A recent visit back to N Ireland to visit my mum, I saw a TV advert about texting when driving.

It reminded me that NI ( and Ireland) take a far more Shocking/Graphic attitude to Road Safety messages than the rest of GB.

Personally I think these sort of shock tactics, should be seen everywhere not just NI.

*****  FOLLOWING IMAGES, ARE GRAPHIC****** but broadcast on ITV in NI. ( I have picked a few over a few years)

Why does GB not show this type of ad? - a genuine question.

Texting:

Speeding:

Drink Driving:

Seat belts:

Seatbelts:

Drink Driving:

Motorbikes:

And from nearly 20 years ago - YOUNG DRIVERS.

 

Thoughts on why these sort of adverts are not shown in England and should they be?

It took me ages to find the last video  but that was one that I remembered and had an impact on me at the time.  It appears to have worked, as more than 20 years later that was the one still in my head!

[Maximus Decimus]

They've had them for years, they can be quite upsetting. My wife still recalls one that she couldn't watch when she was younger. 

As Northern Ireland is largely rural, it has a big problem with boy racers. I think it is these they are trying to target.

In my experience they have a very different driving culture full stop, they'll drive everywhere and don't pay much attention to the rules of driving. Where I lived, the main street was one way and I always remember one guy stopping in the middle of the road to go in the post office. 

[ckn]

 

[JohnM]

If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video speaks a million words. We use those exact videos in our road safety presentations to drivers and riders in the catchment area of Boston Advanced Motorists.  We also use videos produced by the various English govt departments from their THINK campaign. We've been to schools, colleges, clubs, etc and guess what? Those in the most vulnerable group are those who show the least interest and are the hardest to reach.

We worked with the local Mini dealership to take a softer and more educational stance but still the idiots abound

[Maximus Decimus]

14 minutes ago, JohnM said:

If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video speaks a million words. We use those exact videos in our road safety presentations to drivers and riders in the catchment area of Boston Advanced Motorists.  We also use videos produced by the various English govt departments from their THINK campaign. We've been to schools, colleges, clubs, etc and guess what? Those in the most vulnerable group are those who show the least interest and are the hardest to reach.

We worked with the local Mini dealership to take a softer and more educational stance but still the idiots abound

I asked my wife and this was almost her exact response. The people they are designed to work on are the ones who don't listen. 

[Just Browny]

1 hour ago, Maximus Decimus said:

I asked my wife and this was almost her exact response. The people they are designed to work on are the ones who don't listen. 

It's presumably a question of marginal gains though. There are probably relatively few Damascene conversions, but if you can sway the mum or dad who might have turned a blind eye previously, your message just might slowly affect the culture.

[Damien]

Yeah the adverts in Northern Ireland are pretty graphic and they are refreshed fairly frequently too. I'd say at least once a year there seems to be a new one. They are aimed primarily at young drivers and drink driving, speeding and not wearing seatbelts. The trouble is the most ardent culprits of what they are trying to prevent are usually the sort of people who think they are better than that and this sort of thing won't happen to them.

As an aside a watched a TV programme a couple of months ago regarding adverts in the troubles and regarding the Good Friday Agreement. Talk about hard hitting and some of them were very emotional to watch. The psychology behind these and the way the tactics evolved to try and influence people and even things like the choice of music was very interesting.

[Maximus Decimus]

31 minutes ago, Damien said:

Yeah the adverts in Northern Ireland are pretty graphic and they are refreshed fairly frequently too. I'd say at least once a year there seems to be a new one. They are aimed primarily at young drivers and drink driving, speeding and not wearing seatbelts. The trouble is the most ardent culprits of what they are trying to prevent are usually the sort of people who think they are better than that and this sort of thing won't happen to them.

As an aside a watched a TV programme a couple of months ago regarding adverts in the troubles and regarding the Good Friday Agreement. Talk about hard hitting and some of them were very emotional to watch. The psychology behind these and the way the tactics evolved to try and influence people and even things like the choice of music was very interesting.

One of my Northern Irish brother-in-laws doesn't indicate because as in his words 'good drivers know where I'm going.' The obvious response is what about the bad ones?

He's not so much a boy racer, more a stereotypical macho driver who thinks he rules the road. Plenty of those here too.

[ckn]

At least two barracks I worked in during my army years had a badly wrecked car near the main gate with signs about how it was a drink driver’s car. The problem is that most people ignored it because youngsters think they’re immortal. 

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, Maximus Decimus said:

One of my Northern Irish brother-in-laws doesn't indicate because as in his words 'good drivers know where I'm going.' The obvious response is what about the bad ones?

He's not so much a boy racer, more a stereotypical macho driver who thinks he rules the road. Plenty of those here too.

Yeah things like people turning their lights off at junctions near me, country roads no streetlights, is very common as if they don't see lights they think there is nothing coming and don't have to stop.

[Damien]

I mentioned some of the troubles ads earlier and some of them really are brutal considering they were 30 odd years ago. There are a fair number but this was the first, and accused of being very one sided and basically trying to get nationalists to inform.

These types of adverts didn't really work and give the results they wanted and so they moved more onto pyscololgy and emotions of family. The one below I found very poignant and just showed the cycle of violence at the time in the early 90s. It also resulted in a 729% increase in calls to the security services which is interesting. I think its very clever in its message:

The 2018 version and recent campaign which is actually a set of four adverts, based on this one event, through four different eyes, the victim, mother witness and this one the paramilitary:

I think that maybe these ads that so many grew up, and still the type that are shown, are one of the reasons that the Road Safety advertising needs to be so shocking.

[Phil]

53 minutes ago, Maximus Decimus said:

One of my Northern Irish brother-in-laws doesn't indicate because as in his words 'good drivers know where I'm going.' The obvious response is what about the bad ones?

He's not so much a boy racer, more a stereotypical macho driver who thinks he rules the road. Plenty of those here too.

WTF?  Sorry but is he a complete knob Head in the other departments of his life? 

[Maximus Decimus]

3 hours ago, Phil said:

WTF?  Sorry but is he a complete knob Head in the other departments of his life? 

No comment. 

[JohnM]

6 hours ago, Just Browny said:

It's presumably a question of marginal gains though. There are probably relatively few Damascene conversions, but if you can sway the mum or dad who might have turned a blind eye previously, your message just might slowly affect the culture.

That's our best hope. Thanks to a local charity, when a driver or rider under 25 joins us and passes their Advanced Driver or Advanced  Rider test, we give them their fees back, plus £100. Even so, take up is minimal. 

[Copa]

This is a highlights compilation of Victoria’s road safety campaigns... it starts with people from a few of the campaigns  going out, having a good time, the bad consequences and, eventually, the fallout and impact on love ones and others. 

It’s hard viewing but worth it.. 

 

 

[Irish Saint]

I would like to say that those adverts ( they should be seen in a cinema for best effect ) have significantly reduced the number of road deaths. Sadly, they have not.

[damp squib]

We have the same ads in the south so it must be a rural/boy racer thing.

[Phil]

5 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

There are regular deaths of young drivers in Bradford. There was one not so long ago with 4 Asian lads aged about 19-20 killed. Huge crowds at their funerals...does it stop the next dickhead who thinks they're indestructible? Not ay all.

That doesn't mean these ads are a waste of time, if they make just a few people stop and think then they are saving lives. It's just that you'll never stop certain things in human behaviour in some people, sad to say.

I wasn’t an idiot driver, didn’t pass my test till my 30s, but in my teens/early 20s I pretty much thought I was indestructible 

[gingerjon]

3 hours ago, Irish Saint said:

I would like to say that those adverts ( they should be seen in a cinema for best effect ) have significantly reduced the number of road deaths. Sadly, they have not.

In 1972, with 304,000 licenced cars in Northern Ireland, there were 372 deaths in road traffic accidents.

In 2017, with about a million cars, there were 63.

[Irish Saint]

5 hours ago, gingerjon said:

In 1972, with 304,000 licenced cars in Northern Ireland, there were 372 deaths in road traffic accidents.

In 2017, with about a million cars, there were 63.

I fail to see what connection 1972 has to these adverts. These adverts were not around in 1972 just like seat belts etc.

Compared to this time last year the fatality rate on roads here is down by 2.

[gingerjon]

20 minutes ago, Irish Saint said:

I fail to see what connection 1972 has to these adverts. These adverts were not around in 1972 just like seat belts etc.

Compared to this time last year the fatality rate on roads here is down by 2.

1972 was the worst year in Northern Ireland. That's why it gets used as a reference point.

You are right that there are other factors. But these adverts are a factor. And the number of road deaths (across the UK, not just Northern Ireland, incidentally) has fallen massively from the slaughter years of the 60s, 70s and early 80s.

So they have done their job. And continue to do so.