Sod the Bloody Idiot
By Katie Llanos-Small, March 31st, 2007
You can’t miss the electric billboard on the highway out of Madrid: “110 PEOPLE DIED LAST EASTER”, it says in big yellow letters. The New Zealand Land Transport Safety Authority’s road safety campaigns are pretty hard hitting, on the whole. But the Spanish versions go straight to the point. None of these carefully directed TV ads showing horrific injuries, or catchy slogans about bloody idiots; just the big numbers for all drivers to see as they flee the city before one of the country’s biggest holidays. Certainly got my attention.
Other posts by Katie Llanos-Small
March 31st, 2007 at 5:17 pm
There has been much debate in South Africa as well whether the approach should be one with “brutal facts” or one focused on the “value of human life”. I think that different approaches will be required for different people - and that we all react in different ways to these messages. We have tried to include these different messages on the road safety website http://www.arrivealive.co.za and can only hope that it will change driver behaviour!
April 1st, 2007 at 2:41 am
That’s an interesting point, Johan. I do agree that a mix of approaches is probably the best way to target road safety. I think that I, personally, have become so accustomed to the “value of human life” approach pushed in New Zealand that I tend to switch off a bit - often literally - at the road safety ads, and some of the effectiveness is lost.
In contrast, seeing a sign with such a high number of road deaths is unusual for me and so it really hit a chord.