JANE SWEETMAN,
Madam, - It was with great dismay that I read the headline in your edition of November 13th, "New road safety adverts said to be 'harrowing'". As a relative of someone who tragically lost his life in a road accident, I find this prospect of this distressing.
The advertisements currently running on TV - Thump, Shame and Damage - cannot be described as anything but graphic or harrowing, and at best serve only to remind of the senselessness of the loss of life, but more especially the technical details of a road accident. No family which has lost someone on the treacherous roads of this country needs be reminded of those details. The intention is the campaign admirable, but its effectiveness is highly questionable.
The assertion that "international experience has shown that graphic advertising is effective" is cautiously qualified by: "when part of an integrated road safety campaign".
Yet even this claim seems groundless considering the number of deaths on our roads despite TV advertisements "integrated" with the introduction of speed cameras and an increased number of Garda checkpoints.
Road deaths and the need for road safety should need no advertisement. Reports on the local and national news are "harrowing" enough. - Yours etc.,
JANE SWEETMAN, Dodder Park Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.