Tasmania’s Road Safety Advisory Council launches new anti-drink driving TV ad featuring vet and pet dog

New road safety advertisement moves away from the shock horror tactic to a pet dog to target its anti-drink driving message. Watch the clip.

TASMANIA’S road safety body has moved away from the shock horror tactic to a pet dog to target its anti-drink driving message in a new advertisement.

The new campaign that aired last night showed a vet drinking a beer before attempting to inject the pooch as its horrified owner watched on.

Road Safety Advisory Council chairman Garry Bailey said the 30-second ad took a lighthearted approach to the extremely serious subject of death and serious injury.

“We have to approach these in a slightly lighthearted and accessible way because there’s an awful lot of research now in road safety that shows the shock horror tactic isn’t working any more,” he said.

“People are simply turning off. This is much more engaging we believe.”

New Road Safety Campaign Video created by Road Safety Advisory Council to get people to think about drinking and driving.

Anti-drink-driving campaign

Mr Bailey said the point of the ad was to highlight the skill and concentration needed to complete complex tasks.

“You’re not going to allow your vet, or a surgeon, or you wouldn’t be operating a potentially dangerous piece of machinery in a workplace if you were drinking and yet people will drink and drive, and driving is the most dangerous thing we do every day,” he said.

“Alcohol impairs your judgment, vision, sense of attention and it can lead to death and serious injury.”

Mr Bailey said the new campaign was about “keeping the pressure on” that drink driving wasn’t acceptable.

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In the past five years alcohol has been a factor in 17 per cent of death and serious injury crashes on Tasmanian roads, down from 19 per cent in the five years prior.

Mr Bailey said they believed it was socially unacceptable to drink and drive in the younger generation.

Tasmanian Police Southern Road and Public Order Services Sergeant Mark Woodland said they fully supported the Road Safety Advisory Council’s campaign.

He said police could be in any vehicle, anywhere, at any time and were equipped to deal with drink and drug drivers.

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