The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety, MaineDOT and the Maine Turnpike Authority have formed an alliance to educate Maine drivers on highway safety issues, including safety belts, excessive speed and driver distraction. The first communications initiative from this new partnership of state departments and agencies is a television campaign promoting the use of safety belts. The campaign is launching this week on TV stations across the state.
The statewide campaign is part of the Strategic Highway Safety Plan for Maine developed in 2005 and 2006 following a Maine Safety Summit of state agencies, public safety professionals and other safety stakeholders. The plan identifies key areas of focus and the need for communications to educate drivers and elevate awareness of what they can do to improve highway safety for everyone. “The safety belt campaign attacks the most-common excuses that, according to research, people have for not using safety belts,” said Lauren Stewart, director of the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety.
Brad Foley, director of MaineDOT’s Safety Office, agreed. “Believing that a crash just won’t happen to you, thinking that safety belts aren’t needed for short trips close to home, or that they’re too restricting and uncomfortable are the kinds of excuses we need to overcome,” he said. The safety belt campaign consists of two 30-second TV spots created by Swardlick Marketing Group of Portland.
The spots portray the devastating impact of crashes on people’s lives, and through different experiences, stories of loss and regret that statistics show are avoidable in most cases through the proper use of safety belts. • In a crash, people's risk of injury is less when they are buckled in; if they are thrown from a vehicle, they are 25 times more likely to and • Safety belts reduce the risk of fatal injuries by 45 percent. “We set out to create a powerful campaign,” said Herb Thomson, director of Communications for MaineDOT, “and these spots carry a very important and memorable message that is absolutely intended to save lives — a simple action can prevent a lifetime of regret.
” The campaign is funded through a combination of resources from federal and state highway safety and transportation departments and agencies, including the Maine Turnpike Authority. “This partnership of state departments and agencies makes it possible to undertake a meaningful statewide campaign” said Dan Paradee, manager of Public Affairs for the Maine Turnpike Authority. “What a great investment this is if we convince people to buckle-up and save lives.
These ads have the power to make a difference.” It is estimated that safety belt use in Maine is currently 77.2 percent, while nationally the average is 81 percent.
According to the Maine Alliance for Safe Driving, “While statistics show that Maine’s highways, roads and streets are quite safe compared to other places, the occasion of any crash with serious injuries or fatalities serves to remind us all of the importance of safety every time we get in a car or truck.
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