Shocking '˜bone crunching' South Yorkshire road safety adverts toned down for radio

A road safety campaign aimed at reducing road deaths - which included the sounds of breaking bones - was so hard-hitting it had to be toned down for the radio.
Chief Inspector Glen Suttenwood at the campaign launch.Chief Inspector Glen Suttenwood at the campaign launch.
Chief Inspector Glen Suttenwood at the campaign launch.

The Illuminate campaign - which aims to shine a light on bad driving - used two radio advertisements in a bid to drive home its road safety message.

The original messages included the sounds of breaking bones and other chilling sound effects - both of which were deemed so shocking that they had to be toned down for the school run and drive time audiences.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But campaign leaders - The Safer Roads Partnership, South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner Dr Alan Billings and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service - are still urging members of the public to take heed of the toned down radio adverts, which warn people about the dangers of not belting up.

Dr Billings said: “It is not our intention to frighten people, but there is a very serious message here about people in motorised vehicles belting up every time. Sadly for many reasons, people tend to think it will not happen to them.”

The campaign adverts tell the audience: “Danny doesn’t wear a seatbelt to visit his local shop around the corner. When he crashed, the consequence of this is that he chokes from punctured lungs as a result of his broken ribs.

“Jenny is on the school run, again with no seatbelt, when an incoming text distracts her and she hits a stationary vehicle and travels to school, through the windscreen, over her bonnet and on to the road.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The campaign was first launched in February after it was highlighted that nearly 50 people died following collisions in South Yorkshire last year – a marked increase from 2014 when 26 people lost their lives.

The advertisements will be aired throughout September and October on South Yorkshire’s regional radio stations.

Chief Inspector Glen Suttenwood said: “In a crash you are twice as likely to die if you don’t wear a seatbelt.”