Just when you think you've heard about everything. The BBC is reporting today on a new Australian ad campaign that looks to reduce highway deaths by questioning the manhood of speeding male drivers.
Yep, the government is backing a series of TV ads shows women shaking their little finger at speeders - a gesture used in some parts of the world to symbolize a cute little inch worm or a small penis, which ever comes first. (There was no word on what part of the body the campaign for speeding women drivers will make fun of.)
The $1.6 million "Speeding. No-one Thinks Big of You" campaign aims to make speeding socially unacceptable among young drivers by attacking the one thing they might actually care about - their manhood.
Apparently they don't care about their lives too much as this campaign replaces an unsuccessful crusade that showed graphic images of death the aftermath of speeding accidents.
The commercials dovetail with new laws banning the use of mobile phone while driving and tougher speeding penalties.
The price of gasoline may be the ultimate pressure to speeders who use more fuel.
The push in the US is the use of e e-citations for speeders. Many states are outfitting state police cars with devices that permit traffic citations to be processed electronically. Proponents of e-citations systems say they are more accurate, save time and money as well as keep police (and the public) safe by getting them moved off the side of busy, high-speed highways more quickly.