Valentines speeding card....
Discussion
Watching london tonight and the government(?) are distributing valentines cards with a rose on the front and then inside 4 lines, the last being "sorry i killed you". This is being distributed to young drivers, this particular girl on london tonight had just had a friend killed in a car accident... how harsh is that? The aim of the campaign... to ram home the message "speed kills".
1. Speed does not kill, dangerous driving (which may in turn involve speed but not neccesarily) does.
2. Is this distressing card worth the effort after all the grief its going to cause?
ing stupid, unjustified campaign in my opinion...
1. Speed does not kill, dangerous driving (which may in turn involve speed but not neccesarily) does.
2. Is this distressing card worth the effort after all the grief its going to cause?
ing stupid, unjustified campaign in my opinion...Some interesting arguments raised on here: www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=153623&f=10&h=0
Gazboy said:
I've always wondered, that if a CCTV camera captures the moment some poor sod is run over, you could see if 'that poor sod' actually looked when stepping into the road in the first place.
Sorry to sound callous, but, if 35mph means you hit someone, and 30 means you stop just short of them- what were they doing in the road? If they can't judge speed, and a safe time to cross the road- should they be crossing it?
and if you were doing 90mph they'd step out behind you.
sorry I just love that arguement so thought i'd repeat it
i know what you mean, me and my dad were saying, if someone wanted to commit suicide by throwing themselves in front of a car on the motorway or dual carrigeway, and they hit us, it would be our fault for getting in the way.
on a kind of different subject but still on the issue of people on the road.
when i was young i was always told about the green cross code, and never to go into the road when there are cars around, or whens it busy, and to look both ways
are the kids of todays generation just not listening, or are they not being told this enough? they really should keep drumming it into children, so that they know to check before they go into the road,
say i was driving at 30 or 31 and a kid jumped out right infront of my car, i would have no time to slow down enough to not hit the kid, but it would be seen as my fault, and if i was doing 35 or 40 and the same thing had happened, then i would probably be done for vehicular manslaughter and sent to prison, but the same thing would have happened at 30 as it would do at 40 if the kid was right in front, but nobody else sees it that way, and nobody blames the kid for doing something stupid because they are the injured party.
im not going on about breaking speed limits here its just that i think in some circumstances nothing can be done, and that should be assessed, if the worst does happen.
sorry for the rant i got a bit carried away
on a kind of different subject but still on the issue of people on the road.
when i was young i was always told about the green cross code, and never to go into the road when there are cars around, or whens it busy, and to look both ways
are the kids of todays generation just not listening, or are they not being told this enough? they really should keep drumming it into children, so that they know to check before they go into the road,
say i was driving at 30 or 31 and a kid jumped out right infront of my car, i would have no time to slow down enough to not hit the kid, but it would be seen as my fault, and if i was doing 35 or 40 and the same thing had happened, then i would probably be done for vehicular manslaughter and sent to prison, but the same thing would have happened at 30 as it would do at 40 if the kid was right in front, but nobody else sees it that way, and nobody blames the kid for doing something stupid because they are the injured party.
im not going on about breaking speed limits here its just that i think in some circumstances nothing can be done, and that should be assessed, if the worst does happen.
sorry for the rant i got a bit carried away
polarbert said:
say i was driving at 30 or 31 and a kid jumped out right infront of my car, i would have no time to slow down enough to not hit the kid, but it would be seen as my fault, and if i was doing 35 or 40 and the same thing had happened, then i would probably be done for vehicular manslaughter and sent to prison, but the same thing would have happened at 30 as it would do at 40 if the kid was right in front, but nobody else sees it that way, and nobody blames the kid for doing something stupid because they are the injured party.
I think this is where a lot of people get the speed kills message from. If a child steps into your braking zone you will hit them regardless of speed, I think what they are trying to say is that the incident would be more survivable at 30mph as opposed to 40mph.
Agree that children should be taught better road crossing skills and to some extent be responsible for their own actions on a sliding scale as say a 14 year old should have better awareness than a 7 year old.
mindgam3 said:
Watching london tonight and the government(?) are distributing valentines cards with a rose on the front and then inside 4 lines, the last being "sorry i killed you". This is being distributed to young drivers, this particular girl on london tonight had just had a friend killed in a car accident... how harsh is that? The aim of the campaign... to ram home the message "speed kills".
1. Speed does not kill, dangerous driving (which may in turn involve speed but not neccesarily) does.
2. Is this distressing card worth the effort after all the grief its going to cause?
I too felt that this card was distasteful to say the least. In fact, I sent a mail complaining about it to the London Safety Camera Partnership (the body responsible for this campaign). I pointed out that according to their website, speeding is only one factor in the majority of serious accidents, therefore why do they not attend to the other controlable factors (driver education & training, courtesy, etc) as I believe the tragic accident that is mentioned in the campaign might have been avoided if advanced training and better driver attitude were to be encouraged.
I received the following positive reply (note the last line).
I would like to begin by expressing our apologies for the way you feel about our campaign.
As you may be aware, young drivers are a vulnerable group on the roads. Casualty figures demonstrate they are particularly at risk, accounting for 10% of driving licences but involved in 23% of accidents - sometimes because they drive too fast.
Young drivers are also particularly difficult to communicate road safety messages to. Prior to the launch of the campaign in 2001, extensive research was undertaken with young drivers, including the impact of the Valentines card. The research concluded that like you, they found the message shocking - but admitted it made an impact and encouraged them to think.
Last year 80,000 of these cards were distributed in the run up to Valentines Day which resulted in a handful of comments such as yours. However, a significant amount of positive feedback was received, applauding the strong impact. Indeed, the campaign's effectiveness won a Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in 2004.
The London Safety Camera Partnership is committed to reducing the number of accidents and injuries on London's roads caused by speeding and red light running. As part of our commitment to road safety, we work with families and charities that have lost loved ones in accidents, to address the main issues and to deliver messages in the most effective manner. Indeed, For my Girlfriend has received the support of a family who lost their daughter:
Mrs Giulietta Galli-Atkinson, whose daughter was killed in a road collision in 1998 said:
"My 16 year old daughter was killed when a car mounted the pavement on which she travelled along it. The car had first demolished, and driven over, a two-metre metal post and injured another pedestrian, before hitting and dragging Livia to her death. The tragic fact is that nearly all fatalities and injuries on our roads are preventable. These are not accidents - they are caused by appalling irresponsible behaviour, speeding being one of the most common infringements. A speeding vehicle is a lethal weapon. Campaigns such as these, warning young drivers about the dangers of speeding and the role of safety cameras are both necessary and vital in helping reduce the number of young lives devastated or lost on our roads".
We are really sorry that the card has understandably upset you. I hope you can appreciate that our objective is to reduce the number of avoidable tragedies on London's roads and we believe this campaign will be effective in achieving this.
We greatly appreciate your comments and in light of your personal situation, we have decided not to run the Valentines card scheme again.
LSCP Project Manager.
Done to death here www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=153623&f=10&h=0
Note Rude girls analysis is spot on IMO
Note Rude girls analysis is spot on IMO
wolosp said:
Watching london tonight and the government(?) are distributing valentines cards with a rose on the front and then inside 4 lines, the last being "sorry i killed you". This is being distributed to young drivers, this particular girl on london tonight had just had a friend killed in a car accident... how harsh is that? The aim of the campaign... to ram home the message "speed kills".
1. Speed does not kill, dangerous driving (which may in turn involve speed but not neccesarily) does.
2. Is this distressing card worth the effort after all the grief its going to cause?
I too felt that this card was distasteful to say the least. In fact, I sent a mail complaining about it to the London Safety Camera Partnership (the body responsible for this campaign). I pointed out that according to their website, speeding is only one factor in the majority of serious accidents, therefore why do they not attend to the other controlable factors (driver education & training, courtesy, etc) as I believe the tragic accident that is mentioned in the campaign might have been avoided if advanced training and better driver attitude were to be encouraged.
I received the following positive reply (note the last line).
I would like to begin by expressing our apologies for the way you feel about our campaign.
As you may be aware, young drivers are a vulnerable group on the roads. Casualty figures demonstrate they are particularly at risk, accounting for 10% of driving licences but involved in 23% of accidents - sometimes because they drive too fast.
Young drivers are also particularly difficult to communicate road safety messages to. Prior to the launch of the campaign in 2001, extensive research was undertaken with young drivers, including the impact of the Valentines card. The research concluded that like you, they found the message shocking - but admitted it made an impact and encouraged them to think.
Last year 80,000 of these cards were distributed in the run up to Valentines Day which resulted in a handful of comments such as yours. However, a significant amount of positive feedback was received, applauding the strong impact. Indeed, the campaign's effectiveness won a Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in 2004.
The London Safety Camera Partnership is committed to reducing the number of accidents and injuries on London's roads caused by speeding and red light running. As part of our commitment to road safety, we work with families and charities that have lost loved ones in accidents, to address the main issues and to deliver messages in the most effective manner. Indeed, For my Girlfriend has received the support of a family who lost their daughter:
Mrs Giulietta Galli-Atkinson, whose daughter was killed in a road collision in 1998 said:
"My 16 year old daughter was killed when a car mounted the pavement on which she travelled along it. The car had first demolished, and driven over, a two-metre metal post and injured another pedestrian, before hitting and dragging Livia to her death. The tragic fact is that nearly all fatalities and injuries on our roads are preventable. These are not accidents - they are caused by appalling irresponsible behaviour, speeding being one of the most common infringements. A speeding vehicle is a lethal weapon. Campaigns such as these, warning young drivers about the dangers of speeding and the role of safety cameras are both necessary and vital in helping reduce the number of young lives devastated or lost on our roads".
We are really sorry that the card has understandably upset you. I hope you can appreciate that our objective is to reduce the number of avoidable tragedies on London's roads and we believe this campaign will be effective in achieving this.
We greatly appreciate your comments and in light of your personal situation, we have decided not to run the Valentines card scheme again.
LSCP Project Manager.
I've had the same e-mail following my protest (exactly the same reply in fact!!)
One up for the objectors, I'd say!
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