The launch at the City’s Savoy Cinema coincides with the first UN Global Road Safety week.
The campaign was launched jointly by Republic of Ireland Transport Minister Martin Cullen TD and DOE Permanent Secretary, Stephen Peover who said: “Drivers give countless reasons for driving too fast but nothing can justify the consequences. What can justify the loss of 48 lives and 266 serious injuries on Northern Ireland’s roads last year as a result of excessive speed?
“There are always excuses – “it was unexpected” - “there was nothing I could have done” - “I couldn’t have anticipated it” - but the truth is that all too often people simply choose to drive too fast. And the faster they drive, the more likely they are to be in a collision, and the more severe that collision is going to be.
“Who would want to admit to a bereaved family that they were late for a meeting or were just enjoying a drive and thought they could handle the speed. Our message today is simple - combine speed with human error or the unexpected and the consequences could be tragic. We all make mistakes. When it’s your turn, what speed will you be doing?
Mr Peover concluded: “Remember, the faster the speed, the bigger the mess.”
Mr. Gay Byrne, Chairman, Road Safety Authority said “We have a blind spot when it comes to speeding in this country. We drive too fast. We just simply don’t get the fact that the faster you go the greater the impact. And the greater the chances of inflicting serious or fatal injury on ourselves or others. This new ad is trying to correct a national misunderstanding. Trying to deliver a strong dose of reality. It puts the laws of physics into plain English.”
Police Service of Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Roy Toner said: “We are committed to making our roads safer. We are tackling the issue of speed through education and enforcement. In the first three years of the Safety Camera Scheme there has been a 41% reduction in the number of fatal or serious injury collisions on those roads that have mobile or fixed safety cameras. We will continue to focus on excessive and inappropriate speed through robust enforcement. We must influence driver behavior and encourage them to slow down. Research shows that a reduction in speed leads to a reduction in collisions. If drivers continue to ignore our advice, they must be prepared to face the reality of a £60 fine and three penalty points when we detect them speeding."
Assistant Commissioner Eddie Rock, An Garda Síochána said, “We cannot change our past, but we can change our attitudes. We have that choice and if we embrace it, we will save lives”.
Speaking at the launch, Mark Godfrey, Head of Commerical Propositions Development at Norwich Union said:, "This campaign sees Norwich Union join forces with its sister company in the Irish market, Hibernian. As the UK and Ireland's largest insurers, Norwich Union and Hibernian believe that we have a leading role to play in promoting responsible behaviour and safer driving on our roads. Research has shown clearly that the risk of an accident occurring rises as the speed at which a driver travels rises. We also know that a reduction in the incidence of serious injury and death will only come about through changing driver behaviour. As a result the end goal of the new campaign is to change driver behaviour. Achieving this goal requires a combination of education, enforcement and engineering. We are happy to play our part through this sponsorship with the Road Safety Authority and DOE.”
Notes to Editors:
- In 2006, in Northern Ireland, there were 48 deaths due to excessive or inappropriate speed and 266 seriously injuries - 38% of all road deaths and 22% of serious injuries.
- 2006 saw the highest number of road deaths resulting from excessive or inappropriate speed in Northern Ireland since 1991 (when 49 people were killed).
- Just over half (55%) of the people killed or seriously injured in 2006 in Northern Ireland due to excessive speed were drivers of motor vehicles.
- The 2006 figures are provisional and subject to change.
- “Speed is the biggest contributing factor to road deaths in Ireland “ according to VOICE (Vulnerable Road User Organisation in Co-Operation Across Europe) in February 2007.
- This is the 12th cross-border road safety campaign commissioned jointly by DOE and the Road Safety Authority.
- The production cost of the advertisement was £772,000 split equally between the DOE, RSA and Hibernian / Norwich Union Insurance.
- The broadcasting authorities have imposed a post 9.00 p.m. restriction on showing the new advert and it has been rated 15/ 15A on cinema screenings.
- The Television advertisement will run on the following stations: UTV, Ch4 (Ulster), RTE1, RTE2, TV3, TG4, SKY1, SKY SPORTS1, SKY SPORTS2, SKY NEWS, E4, MTV, PARAMOUNT and SETANTA asnd the first screenings are tonight Thursday 26 April, 9.15pm on RTE1 and at 9.30pm on UTV.
- “Mess” was produced by Lyle Bailie International Limited, the contracted advertising agency for RSA and DOE. After commissioning by RSA and DOE, they appointed Syd Macartney as director and Russell Curran Productions as the production company.
- Further information on speeding from DOE is on www.doeni.gov.uk/roadsafety or telephone 028 9054 0540 or from the Road Safety Authority by telephoning lo-call 1890 50 60 80 or visiting www.rsa.ie .
