Advocacy & Safety - big cars / small.....minds

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6240288.stm


Australian drivers hit below belt

Images of road deaths have not curbed speeding, says the RTA

Anti-speeding ad
A new Australian ad campaign is seeking to reduce road deaths by questioning the manhood of speeding drivers.

The series of TV ads shows women shaking their little finger - a gesture used to symbolise a small penis - as speeding male motorists race past.

The $A1.9m (£805,400, US$1.6m) campaign aims to make speeding socially unacceptable among young drivers.

The "Speeding. No-one Thinks Big of You" campaign will run on TV, in cinemas, at bus shelters and online.

The shock tactics of previous adverts that showed disturbing images of death and injury in road crashes have not worked, says the New South Wales state government authority behind the ads, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA).

We will do what we feel we have to, to get the message through
John Whelan
RTA

Exposure to "computer games, modern media ... and horror films" had desensitised many young males to the violent images of those campaigns, RTA spokesman John Whelan told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

The new ads include one young driver revving his engine and rushing through traffic lights in front of two young women and another racing past a female pedestrian.

After both incidents the women wave their little fingers in slow motion with knowing glances.

"We will do what we feel we have to, to get the message through," Mr Whelan said.

Speeding is a factor in about 40% of road deaths in NSW each year, according to RTA figures.

The ad campaign coincides with the introduction of new restrictions on learner drivers, including a ban on all mobile phone use, limits on the number of young passengers allowed and tougher speeding penalties.
Story from BBC NEWS:

Thanks for that. The aussies have a way with this sort of thing. In the UK and US safety campaigns always seem to be over emotive or sanctimonious.


p.s. I actually own a rather small, old car ;)

My wife has a big car. She needs the big trunk because sometimes I put my bike in it.

Az

Easy to fix. Speeding=crushed car. Problem solved.

What really pisses me off while driving:

Doing an extra 15% over the speed limit means I hit more greens.

WTF? Can't you guys program the lights to maybe match up at a 15% less speed? I hate when I'm puttering around at the speed limit till I realize I have hit EVERY RED... Or if I'm doing 5 over I'll notice I'm coming up on them just as they go from yellow to red...

For 90% of my driving, it's the lights that are the worse, not the speed limits.

What really pisses me off while driving:

Doing an extra 15% over the speed limit means I hit more greens.

WTF? Can't you guys program the lights to maybe match up at a 15% less speed? I hate when I'm puttering around at the speed limit till I realize I have hit EVERY RED... Or if I'm doing 5 over I'll notice I'm coming up on them just as they go from yellow to red...

For 90% of my driving, it's the lights that are the worse, not the speed limits.

Damn straight!! It's positive reinforcement for speeders. This is a common phenomenon in SE lower Michigan.

I'm fortunate enough that on my daily commute into Detroit the lights are timed so that driving the speed limit hits all the green lights. It is absolutely hilarious to watch people gun it off the line only to slam on the brakes a 1/4 mile down the road.

What really pisses me off while driving:

Doing an extra 15% over the speed limit means I hit more greens.

WTF? Can't you guys program the lights to maybe match up at a 15% less speed? I hate when I'm puttering around at the speed limit till I realize I have hit EVERY RED... Or if I'm doing 5 over I'll notice I'm coming up on them just as they go from yellow to red...

For 90% of my driving, it's the lights that are the worse, not the speed limits.

Yup. I think it is abundantly clear that traffic engineers, police, and most city leaders want traffic moving at well above the 30-35 average speed limit.

On the other hand, I've noticed, while on my bike, that on most streets I can easily time myself to a higher mode of the lights, especially if it is a long straight road so I can see a whole sequence of lights.

I have to share this. When I drive, I drive a 1977 MG Midget (which is both old and tiny). When walking back to my car yesterday I was ahead of two ladies who were discussing men who drive big, new, flashy cars, and how they are , um, "compensating".

They saw me get into my car, and started laughing. They were both turning bright red. I just smiled...

Kotts :beer:

Its good to see another MG driver on here. I have a 1967 MGB so you win in the small car department... although she's off the road at the moment as I'm just finishing off a total engine rebuild, but that's another story.

Cheers,

Ed

My wife has a big car. She needs the big trunk because sometimes I put my bike in it.

Az

:eek:

Well the MG drivers can smile all they want to, but I own one of these:
http://www.drive.subaru.com/Sum05/YourTurn/360-BLOCKOUT.jpg

I have to compensate in other areas to make up for the smallness of my car ;)

(BTW, if you don't recognize it - it's a Subaru 360 - 2 cylinders, 25hp, 66mpg)

I've seen that ad and it's hilarious and dead on.

Doing an extra 15% over the speed limit means I hit more greens.

WTF? Can't you guys program the lights to maybe match up at a 15% less speed?

In my hometown's downtown area, on all the one-way streets, the lights are timed perfectly for driving at exactly the speed limit.

Sure ain't that way here in DC, though. :(

What really pisses me off while driving:

Doing an extra 15% over the speed limit means I hit more greens.

WTF? Can't you guys program the lights to maybe match up at a 15% less speed? I hate when I'm puttering around at the speed limit till I realize I have hit EVERY RED... Or if I'm doing 5 over I'll notice I'm coming up on them just as they go from yellow to red...

For 90% of my driving, it's the lights that are the worse, not the speed limits.

Damn straight!! It's positive reinforcement for speeders. This is a common phenomenon in SE lower Michigan.

I'm fortunate enough that on my daily commute into Detroit the lights are timed so that driving the speed limit hits all the green lights. It is absolutely hilarious to watch people gun it off the line only to slam on the brakes a 1/4 mile down the road.

I'm in suburban Chicago, and the lights are timed so that no one makes most of them. This encourages the differences in speed that leads to more accidents, while using even more fuel and causing needless wear and tear on the vehicle.

I wish they would use "shaming" and "mockery" more in public health ad campaigns here in the US too.

I can imagine ads to fight obesity that mocked fat men...noting the link between obesity and erectile dysfunction, for instance. Or, questioning their patriotism for being fat couch potatoes in a time of war.

Might be more effective than the current "don't offend anyone" campaigns I've seen.

Yup. I think it is abundantly clear that traffic engineers, police, and most city leaders want traffic moving at well above the 30-35 average speed limit.

On the other hand, I've noticed, while on my bike, that on most streets I can easily time myself to a higher mode of the lights, especially if it is a long straight road so I can see a whole sequence of lights.
You want to explain why the city paid for networking the traffic lights, but they still don't seem to react worth a crap due to other light's cycles, amounts of vehicles at previous lights, lack of vehicles coming from the next light, etc.?

I speed pretty much every day. Does anyone care to wave their small finger at me?

I speed pretty much every day. Does anyone care to wave their small finger at me?

http://www.assertkickass.co.uk/britt%20tough%20guy%20003.jpg

That ad campaign has been going on for at least two months, and hasn't made a whit of difference. Only this morning at Tweed Heads I saw people showing a blatant disregard for the speed limit in front of one of those signs (it's been there for at least a month) -- I doubt they even knew it was there.

The problem with the idea of "education" generally is that 90% of motorists regard themselves as an "above average" driver -- even if this is statistically impossible. Hence whenever they see one of these ads (or one of the highly emotion charged ads that have been used here in the past), they automatically assume it's aimed at "all those other drivers", and just totally ignore it. This is why driver education is a complete waste of time and money.

If anyone was really serious about doing anything about speeding, driving drunk or any one of a multitude of other traffic violations, they would hire a police force that might actually ticket a few people occasionally, and hire some magistrates who might actually apply some of the penalties written in law. However, this won't happen because it might upset people, and voters would rail against any government that actually tried to enforce these laws. Hence they waste time and taxpayers' money on pointless "education campaigns" that do nothing just so they can be seen to be "doing something" without actually upsetting any of the speeders.

Still, that's "democracy" in action for you.

I speed pretty much every day. Does anyone care to wave their small finger at me?

Yeah, it's all great fun until you kill someone and end up in prison for vehicular manslaughter.

But then you knew that already, you're just too stupid to actually process what it means.

blur
I'm going so fast I couldn't even see you! OH SNAP!!

I wish they would use "shaming" and "mockery" more in public health ad campaigns here in the US too.

I can imagine ads to fight obesity that mocked fat men...noting the link between obesity and erectile dysfunction, for instance. Or, questioning their patriotism for being fat couch potatoes in a time of war.

Might be more effective than the current "don't offend anyone" campaigns I've seen.
I've always believed that an advertisement that offends nobody will be remembered by the same number of people.