A high profile campaign by the car review website dogandlemon.com probably prevented chaos when the Give Way rules changed three months ago, says editor Clive Matthew-Wilson.
“We made the changes to the Give Way rules into a front page issue. Suddenly people were talking about the changes, discussing them and preparing for them. Before that, many people were not even aware that the changes were taking place.”
“As we pointed out at the time, the government’s publicity campaign was woeful. Their campaign was trying to change a lifetime of driving habits in just a couple of weeks. The government campaign should have started six months earlier, with billboards and tv ads counting down to the day the changes began.”
“By raising the level of public concern, we did the government’s job: we got people worried about the changes to the Give Way rules, and worried people are safer drivers.”
“The government’s publicity campaign was the equivalent of driving without a seatbelt: just because they got away with it, doesn’t mean it was safe. Ultimately, the credit for raising the level of driver awareness should go to dogandlemon.com, not the bureaucrats who bungled the publicity.”
