The Vancouver Police Department, along with award-winning advertising agency DDB Canada, have created a campaign raising awareness around the dangers of distracted driving.
Texting and driving is clearly a stupid combination, so the campaign illustrates other examples of #stupidcombos to heighten awareness. The public is being encouraged to submit their own ideas on Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtag #stupidcombos (remember to tag VancouverPD on Instagram). Participants can even include their own drawing, using this postcard.
“In effect, we are using social media to stop people from using social media while driving,” says Staff Sergeant Howard Chow of the VPD’s Traffic Section.
Five finalists will be chosen based on creativity, originality, quality and popularity/likes on social media channels on October 17th. The public will be given until October 21st to choose the winner, who will receive a police ride-along or, if the winner is under 16, a visit to the Dog Squad or Mounted Squad.
While the campaign may be light-hearted, the message is extremely serious. Brad Gorski was 21 years old and driving home from the gym when he decided to check his phone for a text. In an instant his life changed as he was hit by a semi-truck, spending seven weeks in a coma, seven months in hospital and re-learning how to walk, talk and eat.
Watch this well-spoken young man tell his own compelling story:
“We’re still writing 800 tickets for distracted driving, on average, per month,” says Chow. “Clearly some people are still not getting the message.”
“But this campaign isn’t about writing tickets,” says Chow. “It’s about changing attitudes.”
