The Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) is launching a new shocking advertising campaign as the summer holidays approach. This time she is focusing on “zombies” at the wheel, in reference to the dozens of deaths occurring each year due to fatigue affecting driving.
Published at 11:52 a.m.
“Don’t drive half dead. Stop before fatigue stops you. » This is the central message of the new SAAQ campaign, which features zombie characters getting behind the wheel of a car.
In addition to a thirty-second video capsule, audio messages will be broadcast on the airwaves from June 17 to July 14.
IMAGE TAKEN FROM THE SAAQ SITE
Several educational contents are also planned, including an interactive sheet on the warning signs of fatigue while driving, which most often results in a much slower reaction time.
Like every year, the stated aim of the exercise is to shock the audience. Year after year, fatigue is one of the main causes of accidents in Quebec, with an average of 87 deaths and some 7,111 injuries. Most often, accidents happen in the middle of the afternoon or at night.
The phenomenon is ultimately responsible for nearly a quarter of fatal accidents. “We should not underestimate the effects it can have on driving. At the first signs of fatigue, we must stop to rest,” said SAAQ CEO Éric Ducharme on Monday.
According to his group, the drivers most at risk of falling asleep at the wheel are those of heavy vehicles, users under 30 or 55 and over, as well as workers with “irregular hours” or night shifts. People suffering from an undiagnosed sleep disorder are also among the group.
A study carried out at the turn of the 2000s by the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, Australia, revealed that driving with between 17 and 19 consecutive hours of wakefulness is equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 50 mg. /100ml (0.05). After 24 hours of wakefulness, this figure would theoretically return to 100 mg/100 ml, the equivalent of 0.10, exceeding the legal limit in this regard in Quebec.
“Everyone is at risk of feeling tired while driving. This is why you need to plan your journeys to take breaks and limit risks. Relay villages as well as roadside rest areas, in particular, allow you to stop in a safe place,” recalled the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, in a statement.
At the Quebec Trucking Association, CEO Marc Cadieux welcomes the SAAQ’s awareness-raising effort. “We completely agree that more needs to be done. We have always said that we need shock campaigns for sharing the road,” he says, recalling however that Canadian standards have imposed a maximum of 14 hours of driving per day for truckers since last year.
