[BITList] Northern Ireland doesn't mess around with its road safety adverts - Weird News - News - The Independent

[Michael Feltham]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/weird-news/northern-ireland-doesnt-mess-around-with-its-road-safety-adverts-9555802.html

Northern Ireland doesn't mess around with its road safety adverts

Northern Ireland's DOE Road Safety has launched an advert so brutal it has been banned from being shown on TV before 9pm.

More closely resembling something like Sharknado than a traditional road safety ad, it sees a man speeding along a country road before flipping his car and squashing an entire picnic-load of children.

The scene of devastation is scored by an acoustic version of Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child o' Mine.

The one-minute advert is designed to demonstrate how 28 children – roughly the equivalent to a primary school class – have died in accident caused by speeding cars since 2000.

The campaign has attracted criticism for is its CGI-laden absurdity, being accused of trying to "improve social conduct through the use of nightmares".


But Road Safety minister Mark Durkan defended the video, saying in a statement: "The aim of this campaign is to challenge and dispel, once and for all, through this emotional and uncomfortable message, the false perceptions that many road users have as to the truly horrifying consequences of speeding."

Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, added: "This advertisement depicts very clearly and very starkly the risks involved when speed is a factor.

"Most of you will find it shocking but the reality is drivers need to be fully aware of the potential consequences of their actions."

This isn't the DOE's first shocking road safety ad, having previously launched one that sees a pair of canoodling lovers sawn in half.


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