TfL focuses on emotional impact on children in road-safety film

Ad aims to avoid traditional shock tactics of road-safety ads.

Transport for London has unveiled a new campaign highlighting the negative impact of speeding on passengers.

Created by VCCP, "Watch your speed" follows the fear experienced by two children in the back of a speeding car, later accompanied by the eerie sound of a road accident. The ad ends with the tagline: "Watch your speed. Everyone else does."

The campaign launches across TV, radio and out-of-home, which features close-up shots of passengers and their wide-eyed responses to speeding.

It was written by Rich Stoney, art directed by Dave Hobbs and directed by Steve Reeves through Another. The media agency is Wavemaker.

Speaking to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10, Miranda Leedham, head of customer and marketing behaviour at TfL, said the organisation had made a conscious effort to avoid the traditional shock tactics of road-safety ads.

"Rather than trying to shock drivers into reassessing their behaviour, we're looking at the pressure of social impacts and what other people think about their driver's actions on the road," she said.

"Driving behaviour is a particularly challenging area to tackle – in London, everyone thinks they're a great driver and not part of the problem, so using people who are important to the driver was a really interesting way to go for the heartstrings, engage with people's emotions and articulate how people feel rather than just going for gore and horror."

Research commissioned by TfL found that two-thirds of car passengers have felt uncomfortable with speed when driven by a friend or family member.

A further 30% admitted that they would feel uncomfortable asking people close to them to slow down, suggesting London’s drivers may be unaware of how their driving impacts the people around them emotionally.

The campaign launches alongside TfL’s "Vision zero" initiative, which aims to eradicate deaths and serious injuries from London’s roads by 2041.

So far this year, 103 people have died on London’s roads, with police records suggesting 37% of all deaths and serious injuries are caused by speeding.

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