I saw a car commercial last night that just summed up a major problem with the way drivers view their automobiles and the way in which they drive them.
The ad was for something called an Odyssey, I don’t know who makes this thing but they really should be more responsible then to allow this to be a selling point of their vehicle. I had the sound muted, as I always do with car commercials (they seem to dominate the commercial airwaves and are usually BS anyway), but what I saw was a woman passenger holding onto a handle that was hung from the ceiling while smiling with anticipation as if she was on an amusement ride. The male driver was gripping the steering wheel and accelerating around a mountain curve, also smiling. Now with the sound muted it was very easy to see what the advertiser wanted to get across to the buying public, and that is that you can now drive even faster around curves. Now, I wonder, why do we have to drive faster around curves? I also noticed that there were no other vehicles on the road. There never is in car commercials (unless the advertiser wants to show how easy it is to pass everyone else) and sometimes they tell you in very small print and very briefly that the driver is a professional on a closed course. Of course the general public does not remember this part of the commercial. The general public sees this commercial with these people having a good ole time racing around a curve without a thought to what might be driving a little bit slower than they are around that curve or what might be passing another vehicle in their lane heading for them around that curve. But, hey, let’s go faster and have fun.
Another car commercial that never ceases to amaze me uses zoom, zoom, zoom as its mantra. As if they are selling race cars. Let’s all drive faster.
Then still another commercial that I only saw once, thank goodness, (they must have pulled it) was of a young boy having a vision of racing a car and the father telling his son that when he grows up he too can drive fast like that race car driver.
Have you ever seen a young child get behind the steering wheel of a car sitting in a driveway or parking lot pretending to drive? What does the child emulate while picturing himself driving? Twisting the steering wheel and going fast while making racing car sounds. Why are we teaching our children this behavior? Why are we teaching them that behind the wheel they can go as fast they want? Why not teach them about driving safely? The vehicle is merely a tool to take us from one place to the next not a means of getting there fast.
By the time these children grow up and get behind the wheel of an automobile after seeing all these car commercials the only thing on their minds is how fast can they go. They have these images of how fun it is to drive, to be free to go anywhere they want. They think of this as a sign of growing up, and it is. But how many are truly safety conscious? How many are told that they should be safety conscious? How many are aware of their responsibility to the safety of everyone else on the road? How many are picking up bad driving habits from their parents?
Safety consciousness is certainly not coming from the DMV. The DMV is only viewed as an obstacle to most people that must be overcome in order to drive. How many people actually take what they have learned in getting their drivers license to the road with them? How many people driving today would not have had their drivers license if they had missed one more question?
Cars are not amusement rides people. Safety should be foremost with every driver of every vehicle every time they get behind the wheel regardless of what car commercials tell or show you.
Car manufacturers need to endorse driving these vehicles safely, not how you can get from 0-60 in 4.4 seconds or how you can pass everyone on the road. Subliminal advertising is a well known fact in the advertising world and is used by every advertiser, please be responsible in its use.
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