Last but not least: SMS at the wheel, monstrous
A new study shows that the simplest awareness campaigns are enough to keep drivers off their cell phones. A few examples.
This is the result of a study by the University of Arizona, which was presented on Tuesday at the annual congress of the American College of Surgeons. Researchers first counted how many employees left the parking lot distracted for a week. The test subjects were then informed about the dangers: the dangers of using a cell phone while driving correspond to an alcohol level of 0.8 per mille, a text message costs five seconds of attention. At the same time, educational posters were put up in the cafeteria. When the researchers observed driving behavior again six months later, the number of distracted drivers was 50 percent lower.
Anyone who drives knows that typing text messages in particular is fatal, as it takes your full attention away from the road for a short period of time. Surprisingly, you still occasionally see drivers who are apparently unaware of this danger. Or they don't care. As the study above shows, in many cases the simplest sensitization and education is enough. The agencies of this world have been trying to do this for years. Sometimes creatively, sometimes less so. In any case, "Don't text and drive" is almost an advertising category in its own right, such is the number of campaigns launched and disseminated. To celebrate the topic, here are 35 examples - better and worse. But according to the study, even the worse ones were enough to achieve the desired effect. (hae)
