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Video: Safe Driving Ads That Shock

By George Skentzos |
FIND DEALS

As the official holiday season comes to an end at midnight tonight, Australia’s roads have seen some horrific accidents – with the road toll already rising to 55.

To put this number into perspective, we have come across an ensemble of graphic safe driving advertisements from around the globe, sure to convey the harsh reality of the holiday road toll.


 

  • http://Pagani Darren W

    Would love to know the countries that the ads came from (I can identify the UK, NZ and Australian ones easily).

    The ghost/spirit failing to leave the body because it was belted in is an absolutely brilliant concept, it might go down well in the “praise the lord but don’t buckle up” United States…

  • J

    Amazing how all those ads have an effect on you when you’re watching them – then there’s the little finger add which does nothing…

    Stay safe in ’09!

  • realcars

    At the end of my schooling in the late seventies my school at the time screened a video of actual accident footage with sound including bodies etc.

    I think it made us all safer drivers.The horror really brought it home.

    I also remember either Wheels or Modern Motor had a sealed section a couple of times of accident scenes in the eighties. I can still remeber the picture of the dead guy whose face hit the inside of the laminated windscreen because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

  • Steve-Poyza

    The ghost not being able to leave is a clever concept, some of these are horrifying.

  • ZANDIT

    Really hits the message home, well done for bringing these together for us to watch.
    Maybe the government depts need to see some of these and see how ineffective some of their own advertising has been.

  • Petrol Head

    I’d love to be able to download this video….and keep it…i know alot of people who need to view it including myself….that extra 10kph comes into perspective….

  • Gibbo

    All of those ads (exept for the pinky one) really open up a different perspective on road safety. They should be shown on t.v.

  • Steve

    The music fits perfectly as well. I’ve watched it several times now and definitely hits home.

  • Minnow

    Agreed everyone! This compilation hits the spot.

    While at the same time shows how pathetic and inadequate our road safety advertisements are. If some of those ads were played on our tv’s, ads that create lumps in the throats of viewers. People might be a little more careful.

  • Cupid Stunt

    All to easy. Drive safe folk.

  • Crouchy

    Wow this was a really confronting video… until the last 30 odd seconds.

    I think the pinky ads should be cut off the end just to show how pathetic they are. Compared to the others they have no impact whatsoever.

    For me the most confronting is the ad where the girl is pinned to the wall by her boyfriend. You always associate road crashes with deaths inside the vehicle so this really grabs your attention and makes you stop and think.

    Forget what they say about these ads being too scary for tv. We need ads like this.

  • Sam

    That pinky ad was a flop. They were trying to emphasize ‘Speeding: no-one thinks big of you’, but it has nothing to do with speeding. All the cars were driving at low speeds. More like hooning or careless driving.

    The rest were amazing and really show you how easy it is for something tragic to happen.

  • http://www.brettg.com brettg

    I find these ads are disgusting and completely unneccesary. Deaths on the road are shocking, but I don’t need to see body parts and blood everywhere to know that.

    Two of my aunties were killed on the road aged 6 months and 3 years. Most people have been “touched by the road toll” in some way.

    I have never found any eveidence that ads like these actually change driver attitudes and behaviour. In fact I think that they just server to desensitise.

    I can almost guarantee that everyone of the commenters here relates thier sentiments to someone else other than themselves. “They” should watch these ads. “They” (insert youth, old people, drunks, whatever you think it is) are the ones who cause all the accidents on the road.

    People always seem to think that it’s someone else’s fault and responsibility. Therefore the ads don’t work.

    What would be much more effective is an ad campaign that teaches you how to avoid these situations.

    Here’s a few concepts:

    * What to do when you see the unexpected on a country road
    * Avoid over correcting
    * How to drive on gravel
    * Drive at an appropriate speed for conditions
    * How to approach an intesection
    * Set your self up for the corner
    * How to merge on the freeway!

    I don’t need to see your intestines to learn how to be a better driver thank you.

  • Crouchy

    Brett, you raise some very interesting and valid points. In particular the ‘they’ thing. I completely agree that most people consider themselves as the ‘good’ drivers. They blame it on another group who blames it on another group (old on young, young on old etc.) and thats how we end up with a nation of drivers who dont think anything is there fault.

    No matter how much it costs, drivers need to be better educated. Its not about extending L plates or provisional periods either. They have that all wrong. Driving around at 50kph with your parents doesnt teach you enough. There needs to be defensive driving courses brought in for all drivers.

    Many a road toll could have been avoided simply by the driver having the skills and awareness to deal with the situation.

    If my car started spinning out on a dirt road i would have absolutely no idea how to control the situation, to be honest. And i dont think im alone…

  • Insert Name here

    Brettg, an ad cannot teach you safe driving techniques. You have to sit behind the wheel to learn the necessary skills and techniques.

    As for the ads, i think they are quite effective. During year 12 at school we had a presentation from accident survivors. Two of the survivors were in wheel chairs.The third survivor was a young guy and at first didn’t look like he had any sevre injuries. He was standing up straight walk fine, and no other obvious injuries. He started talking about his accident and after about 5 minutes he was so tired he could hardly sit up straight let alone talk. He had suffered brain damage. He said it completely cahnged his life and that he was constantly abused because he was so young and didn’t have any obvious physical disabilities. He even recalls being abused by a someone at the shopping center for using the disabled parking. That really drove the road safety message home for me.

    But after a while you ‘forget’ the horror of road accidents and ads like these seem like a good reminder.

    This one I think is a good one.
    au dot youtube dot com/watch?v=TWLmoeoHrP4&feature=related

  • http://skyline The Salesman

    Really shocking. My driving attitude changed when i became a father. It is scary how invincible we believe we are behind the wheel. As hard as it is to watch maybe viewing this should be compulsory for all learner drivers. The ESP system would have prevented some of these accidents. If these ads were to be show in OZ i would hope a warning would come up first, i would hate my sons to see it at their age.

  • Uriah

    Brettg,

    You’re right. Another disconnect is the information about speed limits. More road rules/signs/regulations/etc doesn’t make us safer, there have been many studies on this, and it’s instinctually true. Do you feel more confident you can go 80 when you see a sign saying that, or less? Do you go over the speed limit because the limits are too low for your car/the circumstances? Most people answer yes to both of these. Showing that the signs do nothing but placate us. Some signs could help, such as pointing out a deceptive area, however studies show that since we are inundated with signs, we tend to ignore them.

    Additionally since most of the adverts target speeding which statistically doesn’t cause accidents (we know this due to independent studies done in other countries). Most accidents are caused by your average commuter, doing a regular trip, and are caused by inattentiveness.

    However, that doesn’t give them a reason to police speeding, and you can’t stop inattentiveness.

    These ads cost a lot, and they are useless. Nobody goes out wanting to crash, nobody is going to avoid an accident because they were going slower, nobody thinks about these ads when they accelerate, and these ads don’t address what we instinctively know to be true. People want to go faster, they will go faster, the death toll is quite low, get over it, stop wasting our money, and stop using it to revenue raise.

    Thanks!

  • Uriah

    The Salesman,

    When I was in school, 8 years ago, it is compulsory to watch shows like this, I sat through 2 lectures on driver safety from memory, and we watched a live dramatic re-enactment.

    Some schools have more. Most people go away from them either ignoring them, or making jokes.

    Ads don’t do anything, we know the risks, we weigh them all the time, and we choose what’s the best. What we can’t account for are unexpected problems. We can’t change that.

    Thanks!

  • Andrew M

    will they work???
    NNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

  • http://skyline The Salesman

    Uriah,
    I was not aware of that, we had nothing like it. I got my provisional license at 16 as was the law at the time in South Australia. I had two lessons before my test and passed.
    I would be interested if anyone has figures on road fatalities over the last 15 years, is it better or worse? Have modern advancements in active and passive safety made a difference?

  • Andrew M

    TS,
    I believe that as far as a percentage goes, over a time of 50 years or so, it has gotten beter, but as a numbers thing it is worse.

    the percentage reflects that more and more cars are on our roads each year.

  • birdie

    bring them on i say , it should get the message across , but for some people i doubt it . and maybe it should be compulsory for people to watch when there going for there provisional licence

  • Casey

    I have to say I agree with the common consensus here, the “pinky” adds are worthless by comparison. Yet another waste of money by the state government.

    The cash spent on these adds would have been far better spent having a copper go in to schools and chat with year 12s, show some real pics and drum home how hard it is to break the news.

    Otherwise, well done.

  • wayne

    Myself and my partner have just driven 4633 klms to Lorne in Vic and back to Brisbane.

    I saw about 7 “Federal Black spot signs” and all the same thing at each of these spots was the road was shocking. And instead of actually fixing these road up goes a $150 sign.

    I also saw several cops with speed traps but not in any dangerous parts of the road only at the end of over taking lanes to collect as mean TAX $$$$ as they can get.

    These ads do nothing but shock and don’t improve safety or anyone’s driving skills.
    Bring on a compulsory driver training and a REAL driving test and testing at 5 year intervals.

  • miket

    I disagree about the ‘pinky’ add to some degree. The last shot of the guy in the back seat of the car wiggling his pinky (and the driver seeing this) is the most effective part of the ‘pinky’ ad. At that age, trying to impress your mates, the driver would see this as a real blow. The look on his face from the smug ‘im a legend’ to ‘oh, does my mate think i’m a w*#ker?’ is really well done.

    These ads are very sobering. They annoy some people, they hit home a strong message to others. The ghost/spirit being unable to leave the car resonated with me most strongly. But I agree whole-heartedly that better driver training is a must, as should be regular re-testing of all licence holders.

  • http://www.betterdeal.com.au Rob G

    This is unbelievable. It made me feel sick with guilt. I was one of those kids who drove way to fast, way to often, tired, or with other things in me as well. I’m now a new dad with a beautifull wife, home, job etc. watching the scenes where a partner is lost kills me to watch. The young schools kids, the child losing his mum. I never had an accident like that but gasp with shock again and again that it could happen to me or i could have done it to someone else. this is so shocking real, it should be shown to all schooleavers.

    My thoughts go out to those who’ve lost to stupidity bought on by people like i was.

  • SteveC

    What a moving compilation of road safe videos. The sombre nature of the song adds to the feeling of it all.

    That is, until you get to the lame brain Aussie one at the end with some soft message about no one thinking big of you the only redeeming feature of the add.

    It would be great to have this played to every school student, young and old across the world. Every time I see stuff like this I wish the person who decided to run the red and T-bone me while I was riding my motorcycle had the opportunity to see it also.

    People often say things or hold back in respect of others. When driving on the road there seems to be a total lack of it. Zero consideration, zero tolerance and zero inhibitions as to how you act on the road.

    This video should make everyone think twice about the next time you put your foot down, over take another car or decide to show off with your mates.

    I’m guilty of it myself. To say you’re not would be ignorant.

    SteveC