Seatbelt radio campaigns

The RTA has produced two radio commercials aiming to communicate the following messages:

1. 'Pinball' communicates the damage you can do to yourself and others if you are unrestrained, even in a minor accident. The commercial uses the analogy of a pinball machine's balls flying across the machine until it hits the sides of the pinball track being similar to the effect of someone's body being flung around the interior of a car when not wearing a seatbelt.
2. 'Double Demerit commercials' target non-seatbelt wearing at times of enhanced enforcement such as Christmas, Easter and public holidays through the doubling of demerit points lost if caught not wearing a seatbelt. This means there is an increased threat of losing your licence. Research undertaken by the RTA identified the threat of enhanced enforcement to have potential to alter behaviour.

Both commercials work by highlighting the consequences of non-seatbelt wearing - either through damage to yourself and others or through the threat of penalties and loss of licence.