FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release #15-057
Scott Gastel/Bonny Tsang (212) 839-4850
NYC DOT Releases Gripping and Compelling “Your Choices Matter” Television Advertisement, Latest Addition to Vision Zero Awareness Campaign
Dynamic videography joins radio, newspaper, online and extensive out-of-home media plan, highlighting the need to make the City streets safer.The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Polly Trottenberg today announced the release of “Your Choices Matter” television advertisements, designed to illustrate the real-life impacts of high-risk driving choices, with the first :30 second ad “Racer” focused on the interaction between a motorist and child. Today’s release is aligned with Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative, which aims to eliminate fatalities through a combination of engineering, enforcement, policy, and high-impact education and awareness efforts.
“While NYC DOT redesigned more streets than ever and NYPD increased traffic enforcement, bringing safer streets to the five boroughs is also the responsibility of drivers,” said DOT Commissioner Trottenberg. “Drivers’ choices behind the wheel matter and these television advertisements will remind millions of people that their actions can have fatal consequences for New Yorkers and their families.”
While Vision Zero encourages and demands safe practices for all street users, these ads specifically identify driver behaviors. Reckless or dangerous driving decisions by motorists are key factors in 70 percent of pedestrian fatalities citywide. As part of the “Your Choices Matter” campaign, the new :30 second ads reveal two lives in progress on familiar city streets and highlight how the actions drivers make behind the wheel can have tragic consequences.
The “Your Choices Matter” campaign, first launched last fall, brings to light that traffic incidents have real and very serious results. The imagery used in the campaign is vivid and attention-grabbing and ultimately helps the viewer understand the human cost of reckless behavior. These new TV ads will run on major broadcast and cable television networks from May 4 to June 28, 2015.
In addition to television ads, this phase of “Your Choices Matter” includes robust radio, newspaper and online advertising as well as an extensive out-of-home media plan. Ads will feature images of items found at crash scenes and tell the stories of the pedestrian-victims. The images are supported by facts from the agency’s newly-released Borough Pedestrian Safety Action Plans. The plan includes billboards, metrolight posters, bus tails, bus shelters, phone kiosks, and urban panels located along Priority corridors and intersections throughout the five boroughs.
The second of two ads in the run will be released later this week.
For more information about Vision Zero, visit www.nyc.gov/visionzero.
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