Controversial UK Public Service Ad: Dangers of Texting While Driving… Is the PSA Too Graphic? (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on August 25, 2009
The new public service ad from Britain is long, tragic, disturbing, and graphic. And very, very real.
It is also being met with concern and controversy.
Some people have found it to be offensive, too graphic for most people to watch. I don’t agree.
Car accidents are not neat and tidy. People bleed. People die. All in a blink of an eye, it can happen to anyone. Lives change, lives end.
I honestly think the PSA could have been much more graphic, but because it was to air on UK television, was not as gory as it realistically could have been.
Will it work in cutting down on the number of people who dangerously type and send text messages while driving a vehicle? Dear God, I hope so, I pray that it does. I’ve watched this PSA twice now, and I still feel the hair on the back of my neck and on my arms rise.
I recommend this be watched by anyone, especially teens who use cell phones for sending scores of electronic text messages to friends daily without thinking too much about it. They take texting for granted and don’t recognize the imminent, deadly dangers it poses when driving a car.
Be forewarned… this video, while no gorier than an R-rated summer blockbuster flick, is an eye-opener and quite shocking. Parents, watch it with your kids. It could save a life.
Warning: Graphic images
Texting While Driving, PSA from UK | August 2009
From 2NewsTV in Idaho:
Does texting PSA go too far?
2NewsTV
By Nicole Navarro | August 25, 2009BOISE – A new public service announcement out of Britain shows the dangers of texting while driving.
Experts say that level of violence is necessary to get the point across. But, does it really work?
The shocking video starts with several teen girls in a car when the teen driver sends a text message. And that’s when things go terribly wrong.
The video is part of a public service announcement to get teens to understand the dangers of texting and driving. The images are graphic and some might event find the ad offensive.
“No one wants to see teenage girls get beat up like that,” said Chris Wright of Kuna.
Jefferson Jewell of Boise believes the video could make a valid point.
“I think if it does the job then maybe it’s worth ruffling a few people’s feathers,” Jewell said. “The truth is kids see a lot worse on TV and in the movies anyway.”
Related reading:
ParentDish: Will Bloody Texting PSA Get The Message To Teens?
New York Times: Driver Texting Now an Issue in the Back Seat
Nicole Michelle Morten: Should Texting While Driving be Illegal?
Al Nye The Lawyer Guy: PSA Texting While Driving – UK
Right Pundits: ‘Texting While Driving’ PSA (Video) Too Graphic or Graphic Enough?
Life’s a Story and All the World’s a Page: Texting While Driving
Youth Ministry Institute: Mother of All Links
The KOB Blog: You Blink…And It’s Gone
Brittle Skillet: Phone and Crash: Driving While Distracted
Autoblog: VIDEO: U.K. texting-while-driving PSA is a return to Blood on the Highway
importantxnews: New British PSA Urges Teens To Stop Texting
spoiledBROKE!: Don’t Text While Driving
About the author
This is the right stuff. why when the reality of ones actions barred so openly ruffeled so many feathers. Should we say nothing and continue to watch children die. In 1964 In California it was standard practice for all students to view a movie called Signal 30. a very graphic movie shown in High Schools showing actual accident seans and real bodies nothing hidden. It did not stop accidental deaths… or did it. I personally believe for a time all who saw thjis film were sobered to reality by it.
We all could use a dose of this kind of reality if we value our children, parents and family.
Well said, Glen, thanks for your insightful input.
MediaCurves.com just conducted a follow up study with 205 viewers of a Public Service Announcement (PSA) from the U.K. illustrating the dangers of texting and driving. Results showed that the overwhelming majority of viewers (85%) reported that in the last week, they had reduced the amount of text and mobile messages sent while driving as a result of the video. More in-depth results can be viewed at http://www.mediacurves.com/NationalMediaFocus/J7524-Texting-While-Driving-2/Index.cfm
Thanks,
Ben
Outstanding news! So for now, the PSA has made a difference in texting behaviors when driving a vehicle.