Grisly, Melodramatic Anti-Speeding PSA

Editor

Our pals in the UK really have a knack for really over-the-top road-safety ads, complete with grisly mayhem and (always) young love cut short—longtime readers might remember this pro-seatbelt TV spot I posted a long time ago. The anti-speeding PSA below is apparently part of a series called "The Faster the Speed, The Bigger The Mess" that started airing in Ireland last year. Somehow, I can’t imagine such a thing turning up on TV in the US. Sure, we had our blood-on-the-highway bout of drivers’ ed films back during the Cold War, but we seem to have developed a real taboo around the spectacle of the accident scene. Maybe it was the Vietnam War that triggered a tightening up of the rules, or maybe we’re just not comfortable reenacting the kinds of scenes that regularly give post traumatic stress disorder to big burly state troopers. Whatever it is, I think it’s fair to say that driving-related PSA’s here in the US are positively tame compared to what gets shown in other countries. How about you, ever seen one that really pushes the envelope?

(Video warning: screaming, light gore, traumatic amputation—not safe for all workplaces).

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Posted at 5:41 pm in Jen Dunnaway, TV, UK, Wrecks

Comments

i_luv_dusty
Jul 26, 2008 at 2:05 pm

Gary seems to think that unless you have a professional race-driver’s license, you shouldn’t be allowed to drive on the road.
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The truth is that drunk driving kills many more people than speeding or “street racing.”

Brian
Jul 24, 2008 at 12:23 pm

Wildfire, I agree, I love dogs, but he shoulda hit it.
We SHOULD have commercials like this in the US. The only thing that should be added, is the guy should’ve been talking on his cellphone.

Jim
Jul 24, 2008 at 2:30 am

Whoa…just whoa…

GTwildfire
Jul 23, 2008 at 11:29 pm

he should have just hit the dog.

Anonymous
Jul 23, 2008 at 10:14 pm

Just shows how dangerous slow drivers are. Do they not realize how many people they put at risk when everyone is trying to get around them?

Gary Faules
Jul 23, 2008 at 8:45 pm

BRAVO! The only thing wrong with this add is there are not enough of them. On the other hand there are far too much “glamorizing” in movies and commercials that tends to lead many young people into believing driving and automobile is “easy” which leads to taking it for granted. If it’s fopund to be disturbing… then it’s a job well done. That was a look in to reality.

i_luv_dusty
Jul 23, 2008 at 7:53 pm

That was disturbing. If that was in an American movie, it would be rated R for graphic scenes.