The organisers of a campaign which highlights to young people the dangers of texting while driving have published a video showing how the campaign works.
The ‘No Look, No Touch, No Phone’ campaign – created by the Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative as part of its long-standing ‘Road Respect’ umbrella campaign – involved giant mobile phones displaying the final messages sent by drivers who died while using their phone at the wheel.
The installation went on tour across the north east during the summer of 2018 and featured six mobile phones – each with a plaque explaining how the driver crashed, who they were texting and why they were doing so.
The campaign also saw the text messages displayed on billboards and petrol station forecourts – and across pubs and bars in beer mat and poster format.
Road Respect social media channels also featured the texts in short, ‘easily digestible’ video format, with video footage of the events to further extend the campaign reach.
Road Respect says the posts and videos ‘went viral, achieving hundreds of thousands of impressions and engagements’.
A spokesperson for Road Respect said: “The visual nature of the phones/last texts acted as a hook for the public. Once people read how mundane and every day the texts they were sending were, and the outcome of such behaviour, the reality of the dangers of texting behind the wheel hit home.
“Feedback during the events and on social media were incredible. The campaign resonated with drivers and passengers alike and ultimately worked towards encouraging behavioural change behind the wheel.”
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