Everything Traffic Safety
Today’s PSA is actually just an excerpt of a longer PSA from the city of Spokane. (Click here for the full version) This PSA is the typical local traffic safety video: footage of the local community, a pleasant narrator, an educational message, and simple production. The cheerful narrator led me to believe this would be a bunch of happy shots of people successfully crossing the road. I was wrong. Here’s eleven seconds to prove it:
Seattle PD put this PSA together after an officer encountered a man snorting cocaine during a traffic stop. Hard to believe, I know. The officer can hardly believe it either. Take a look:
This PSA comes from Australia, where they tend not to hold back on tragedy in their messaging. It’s part of the Bloody Idiot campaign from a few years ago, and is more tame than some of the others in the campaign (like this one). Not too long ago, I posted the “Bloody Legend” PSA; that one was from New Zealand. Noticing a “bloody” theme from the Australia/New Zealand contingent of traffic safety professionals. Don’t worry, this one doesn’t actually have any blood in it. (But it is sad.)
It’s the holiday season, and in the world of traffic safety that coincides with extra emphasis patrols for impaired drivers. DUI patrols are happening all across the state, so I thought I’d share one of the PSAs that we’re using right now to get out the message that DUI is not just for alcohol. Impairment includes legal drugs, illegal drugs and prescription medications. If you’re just high on life, you’re still good to drive. That’ll make more sense after you watch the video.
Ziad Youssef at MyTrafficMan.net is a local attorney who focuses, as you may have guessed from his website name, on traffic law. He’s also the attorney that connected me with Rochelle, the first person featured in the Real Driving Stories series. Ziad has put out a radio spot for the holidays, and his message of keeping your holiday season great by not getting a DUI is right on, so I’m sharing it here:
I know this section of the website is for PSAs, and this straddles the line between PSA and commercial, so I’m counting it. I appreciate when local businesses spread safe driving messages. Which brings me to my next point: If you’re a local business and you have a radio or TV spot or a print add for your business that encourages people to drive safe, I’ll gladly feature it here at TheWiseDrive. We can all work together for safe driving in our community.
Every year during the holidays we launch our impaired driving emphasis patrols and remind everyone of the dangers of impaired driving. Rather than hearing it from me, I thought it would be better to let someone who has experienced a DUI arrest tell her story:
I want to publicly thank Rochelle for her willingness to tell her story. It takes courage, and courageous people change lives. Thanks also to Ziad at MyTrafficMan.net for collaborating on this project.
It might take a few views to understand the accent in this PSA from New Zealand. Kind of like how it takes the first few minutes of a Shakespeare play to get a handle on the old English. Or trying to follow the hillbillies in Deliverance. But the dialect is intentional; it’s meant to connect with young indigenous men in New Zealand. The audience is specific, but the message is universal: If your friend is too drunk to drive, do something about it.
Holiday impaired driving patrols start this weekend. No matter where you decide to party, whether it’s New Zealand or northwest Washington, be safe and drive sober.
The first time I watched this PSA, I was a guest in a classroom of high school students. Part way through the video, I could feel the tone of the entire classroom shift. You’ll feel it too. By the end there were students in the class responding a lot like the students in the video. Powerful. And real.
AT&T has created many excellent distracted driving PSAs through their It Can Wait campaign. I think this is one of their best.
Maybe you’ve already seen the video slideshow of the impaired bears; now you can see the photo gallery. Just click on the picture to go to the gallery.
This is a story of a bear that makes a not good decision, and ends up having a very not good night. This August, Washington law enforcement officers will join the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign aimed at encouraging everyone to get a safe ride, especially if alcohol, prescription or over-the-counter medicine, or other drug use might be causing any impairment. Continue reading “Bear Has a Not Good Night”