The UK government has re-launched the THINK! road safety information operation with a brand new campaign, titled Travel Like You Know Them. The campaign is spearheaded by a national television advert showing now and aims to inspire greater empathy on the road.
The advert is based on a change in the Highway Code in January 2022, which added improved road safety for road users who are not in motorised vehicles, such as walkers, cyclists and horse riders. With the new changes, drivers must now give way to pedestrians who are waiting to cross at junctions, give more space to cyclists and horse riders when overtaking them at high speeds and use the Dutch reach technique when leaving a vehicle onto the road.
Travel Like You Know Them aims to help all road users better understand each other and encourages positive behaviours to help keep everyone safe on the road. It is aimed primarily at motorists, as they have the greatest responsibility to “reduce the risk that they may pose to others.”
The advert focuses on a single driver who passes by a cyclist, pedestrian and scooterist, each of whom represents a presence on the road to the ire of some motorists. But the advert cuts to these other users of the road to humanise them. The advert hopes that motorists will also start to humanise others on the road by, as the slogan says, travelling like you know the person who may be causing you frustration. Of the advert, Roads Minister Richard Holden said, “It is fantastic that the Travel Like You Know Them campaign is back to continue to raise awareness of these important changes and to change behaviour on our roads to help keep those more at risk safe.”
THINK! has a long history of encouraging positive behaviours that motorists may not otherwise consider. Their campaigns have a multi-generational presence on UK television, tracing back to the 1950s with animated cartoons that educated on now-unthinkable actions such as cutting in front of another driver at the traffic lights. In the 60s, 70s and 80s, THINK! became a staple in between programmes, with famous ads such as Batman’s Kerb Drill, Clunk Click Every Trip, Think Bike and No, Not Now. Road deaths in the UK fell dramatically over time as their various campaigns helped the British public become more responsible drivers step-by-step, covering topics from wearing your seatbelt to drunk driving.
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