Road safety advert targets rural drivers on 'autopilot'

RSA director of partnerships and external affairs Sarah O’Connor said: 'Too many lives are lost because drivers become too comfortable on familiar roads, unconsciously creeping up their speed without realising the deadly consequences.' File picture: Jim Coughlan

A new Groundhog Day-style advert has been launched to warn drivers they can break speed limits and become complacent when they are on “autopilot” on rural roads.

The latest Road Safety Authority (RSA) campaign will see a high-profile TV and radio campaign as well as adverts across the likes of TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook.

It will also be shown during major sports events over the coming weeks such as at Ireland’s Six Nations rugby matches and the Cheltenham Festival.

Following a man getting out of bed and ready to leave for the day, again and again, the advert shows the driver becoming increasingly comfortable about going too fast on the same route believing he’s fully in control.

But when he takes a bend at a high speed, it causes him to veer into the path of an oncoming car. By then swerving to avoid hitting the other car, he crashes his own. The advert ends with the message: “You never know what’s coming. Slow down on rural roads.” 

“Too many lives are lost because drivers become too comfortable on familiar roads, unconsciously creeping up their speed without realising the deadly consequences,” RSA director of partnerships and external affairs Sarah O’Connor said.

“This campaign is a wake-up call — because even a small increase in speed can have serious and tragic results.” 

Rural focus

The RSA said the rural focus was important as nearly three in four road deaths (73%) and nearly half (47%) of all serious injuries between 2020 and 2024 happened on rural roads.

It said the campaign was also prompted by a “worrying acceptance” of speed with a recent survey finding that over half of drivers felt it was acceptable to exceed an 80kmh speed limit by up to 10kmh. Almost 30% thought it was acceptable to exceed the limit by more than that.

The campaign is being supported by families of road crash victims, including Sharon Cleary. Her son Adam Case was a back-seat passenger when the driver of the car he was travelling in lost control and struck a tree on a narrow rural road, just three miles from his home in Tipperary in 2017.

June McCardle, whose father Christopher Fitzgerald was killed while on a motorbike on a rural local road in 2018, also supports the RSA campaign.

“The tragic irony is that my dad was an incredibly careful and responsible driver,” Ms McArdle said.

He always said his own driving wouldn’t kill him, but someone else’s could.

“He was hit head-on by a car that drifted into his path and, in an instant, he was gone. It was just 11 weeks before my wedding, and he had been on his way home after dropping off my wedding invitations.

“This campaign is so important because no family should have to endure this kind of heartbreak. We all have a responsibility to drive safely — not just for ourselves, but for everyone on the road.”