Driving a hard hitting message home
A new Midlands* wide publicity campaign is asking young people to imagine how they would feel if their driving resulted in a friend sustaining permanent, life changing injuries.
‘Best Mate’ is based around a short film showing three young friends enjoying a game of beach volleyball. The sense of fun and exuberance is replaced by feelings of guilt and remorse for one player as he sees the fourth member of the ‘gang’ watching from the sidelines, unable to join the others having lost a leg in a car crash. The campaign states ‘You crashed the car, your mate has to live with it’.
The campaign portrays a realistic scenario as every year thousands of young people are affected by the consequences of car crashes. Young people are at greatest risk of being injured or killed in road traffic collisions. In 2006 for example, 32,677 17-21 year old car users were killed or injured in Great Britain and 17-21 year olds represented a quarter of car users killed (DfT figures).
The making of the campaign was particularly poignant for Oliver Netherton, the male volleyball player in the film. Two of Oliver’s friends died in a car crash in which the driver survived. Regardless of the cause of the crash, the driver is having to live knowing that two of his friends died while in his care.
Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, whose responsibilities include road safety, said the county council is committed to the campaign.
He said: “As this campaign shows, car crashes can change lives for good. We want young people to reflect on the way they drive and if necessary make changes before it’s too late. They need to understand that when you drive a car you are responsible for the safety of yourself, your passengers and other road users around you. Far too many young people are needlessly losing their lives, sustaining permanent injuries or having to live with the life-long responsibility of killing or seriously injuring someone else.”
The film can be viewed at http://www.best-mate.net and is also being promoted on You Tube, via social networking sites. It will also be shown as a cinema advert and is being supported by radio adverts and outdoor posters.