Wednesday 9 November 2011

drive safely


Yesterday we passed by a traffic accident; someone driving a scooter had been hit by car. Whenever I see something like that I feel my chest going hollow for just a second.

It made me think of traffic accidents, how fast they happen and how utterly unnecessary they are. If we would simply be patient in traffic, drive within speed limits, quiet our mind and be aware of what we are doing there wouldn't be any traffic accidents. It's all because we aren't in the moment; our mind is busy somewhere else. Don't even get me started on those with the mobile phones attached to their ears. And in my opinion, if you are texting while driving then you shouldn't have a license; don't even try to justify such a reckless behaviour!


The Road Traffic Directorate in Iceland (Umferdarstofa) uses ads to create awareness and often they are very good. They can also be extremely sad. Last summer they showed this one, called Angels, produced by Truenorth (which I talked about last week) and Hvita Husid ad agency. I think it's quite powerful and beautifully done.


The final words read: In 10 years, 84 people have died in Iceland because of high-speed driving. Are you driving within the speed limit?

I've used that song, I Think of Angels, on my blog before, performed by two Icelandic musicians, KK and Ellen Kristjansdottir, who are siblings. They wrote it in memory of their sister who died in a car crash early in the 90s.

Back to that texting and driving thing.

Here is an ad that shows you what can happen. Be prepared to watch something really ugly and sad.

This is my attempt to raise awareness. Drive safely and enjoy your day!

photo credit: LatteLisa

#1 YouTube: Umferdarstofa Iceland, Angels ad

8 comments:

  1. You know, just this weekend I heard that in Norway we have more people dying in traffic today than we had fishermen dying at sea back when we were still mainly a fishing nation and most people worked at sea. It makes you think...

    Stay safe ♥

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  2. Oh, and I have quite a few pairs of shoes yes, but I just so happens to like the gray pair in the bedroom post ;)

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  3. Speeders and drunk drivers really scares me, I hope I never crosses paths with them - especially with my kids in the car. So unnecessary! :-(

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  4. There are so many car accidents in Romania and the traffic in Bucharest is terrible. Both hubby and I are sometimes scared of what we come across when driving. A fraction of a second of not paying attention and that's it. We try to drive less and less. The clip is so touching, Lisa, I get very emotional when I see something like this. xo

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  5. This past Saturday I just saw 3 car accidents in the span of 4 hours. I couldn't believe it! Never had that happened before. My heart definitely does skip a beat when I see them. So tragic what can happen in an instant.

    Thanks for raising awareness, Lisa! Oh and thanks for the email. Now in addition to Js ER scare, I have computer issues at home so I'm squeezing this into my lunch hour at work. Will get back to you soon :)

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  6. Never a truer word said. Traffic + driving + not concentrating + mobile phone = Disaster! They should invent a thing where if your phone rings and you answer or begin to text when driving the hazard lights come on and the car steers itself to the side of the road and doesn't start for an hour!
    Good post!
    Helen:)
    I couldn't even tell you statstics of accidents in Melbourne so far this year - too many to mention.

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  7. I had to stop that second video halfway through....so incredibly heartbreaking and frightening. I have that same hollow feeling in my heart. Thank you for posting this, I think we can always use the reminder.

    The truly scary thing is, no matter how good a driver you are, you can never control other people. That scares me the most when I am driving.

    God forbid any of us have to face something like this. Here in the states it seems EVERYONE texts while driving. I've seen countless people in the passengers seat with their legs up on the dashboard, or businessmen shaving while driving. So reckless and stupid.

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  8. Profound post Lisa and a haunting video. I agree with Anait's comments in that unfortunately you cannot control other people and their selfish and stupid actions.

    Only last night, I was behind a women driving who was texting and mentioned to my passenger how annoying her driving was...2 minutes later she crashed into the back of another car! Just crazy!

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