Category: PSA Smash Up

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This Is Your Fault

I was talking with a friend and traffic safety colleague recently, and we got into the topic of fault and responsibility in crashes. It seems like we’re often willing to blame a problem with the car’s manufacturer, the road conditions, or the weather, but we have a hard time admitting that we’re the problem. It shouldn’t be so hard for us to admit – 94% of crashes are caused by human error – we should be used to identifying ourselves as the cause of crashes. I suspect that it’s because once we recognize that our mistakes are the common denominator in nearly every crash we’ll actually have to change our driving behavior. Continue reading “This Is Your Fault”

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Drunk You – PSA

This PSA cleverly states the obvious, but in a way we don’t always think about; recognizing that Drunk You, while possibly quite fun, isn’t the best at decision-making. Like the narrator in the PSA says, you shouldn’t trust the version of you that created the macaroni taco to make a plan to get you home safe. Plus, I like a simple visual message and this PSA has that going on, with one basic continuous shot. Take a look: Continue reading “Drunk You – PSA”

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Shaq Wants You to Drive Like You Give a #&%@!

Does adding a celebrity to a traffic safety PSA make it better? We’ve had quite a variety of traffic safety PSAs here in the PSA smash up. Some are gory, some are sentimental, some are sad, some are funny. We’ve even posted a previous celebrity PSA with Helen Mirren (one of my favorites). Ultimately, the goal of a PSA is to get the viewer to change a behavior; in our case, stop dangerous driving behaviors. When Shaq tells you to drive like you give a #&%@, are you inclined listen? Continue reading “Shaq Wants You to Drive Like You Give a #&%@!”

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Teens Raising Awareness About Awful Parent Driving

This isn’t an actual PSA, but it probably should be. I spent the last couple of days on Western Washington University’s campus talking with students about safe driving. Many of them said they were the careful drivers in the family, and that they had to constantly remind their parents about things like leaving the phone alone, paying attention, tailgating, and driving at the speed limit.

Here’s Saturday Night Live’s version of a traffic safety PSA, addressing that issue: Continue reading “Teens Raising Awareness About Awful Parent Driving”

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Famous Last Words – Smh.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has a new PSA they’ve released as part of distracted driving month. It’s good, but I’m pretty sure I’m not the target audience. I’ll admit that I didn’t get the tagline, which immediately identifies me as not being part of the millennial generation. In case you didn’t get it either, I looked it up. Smh is an acronym for “shaking my head.” If your kid ever texts that to you, it means he is shaking his head in disappointment. Here’s the PSA. Warning: It’s sad.

 

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Race Track – a Distracted Driving PSA

Distracted driving emphasis patrols are happening all over Washington right now, so this seems like a good time to release the latest traffic safety PSA from TheWiseDrive. See how a rivalry between racecar drivers turns to tactics of technology and distraction to keep the title of World’s Fastest Racecar Driver.

 

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Funny, Effective, Inappropriate?

Maybe these traffic safety signs push the boundaries of appropriateness a bit, but they are clever. These PSAs come from Australia, so I guess it’s more acceptable there. (Insert giant assumption here.) I have yet to see a traffic safety message locally that uses name-calling to try to change behavior.

Are they effective? It’s hard to measure the effectiveness of PSAs, but there are some general guidelines for how to change behavior. Instead of telling people what they shouldn’t do, effective behavior change is most likely to happen by encouraging people to do the right thing. (I’m thinking of you, “Don’t do drugs” campaigns.) Continue reading “Funny, Effective, Inappropriate?”