A television advertising campaign that made it onto Caltrans‘ network of electronic message boards will help fight drunk driving in California over the Memorial Day weekend.
“Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving,” a campaign launched in 2005 by the nonprofit Ad Council for the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, now appears regularly on Caltrans’ 790 electronic billboards on freeways across California.
“Our campaign is already making a measurable impact,” according to the Ad Council. “In 2013, 49 percent of adults 21 and older said they will always get a ride, take a taxi, or use public transport rather than drive if they feel buzzed. This is a seven percent improvement from when our campaign launched in 2005.”
The electronic billboard version of the message was first tested last summer, when Caltrans changed the traditional enforcement-oriented “Report Drunk Drivers, Dial 911” message to the new “buzzed driving” warning in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties over the July 4 weekend.
After the test in the Los Angeles area, the message appeared across California for 10 days in December, four days in March, five days earlier this month, and is scheduled over the Memorial Day weekend. It will appear again at various times October through December across the state.
A spokesperson for Caltrans said state officials have been trying out new messages that are less enforcement-oriented, such as “Driving Sober Saves Lives, Including Yours,” in order to raise consciousness about drunk driving.
The New York-based Ad Council, which was formed during World War II, is America’s leading producer of public-service communications.
