BFI

Celebrity endorsement became integral to road safety campaigns in the 1970s, with the likes of Tom Baker, David Prowse, Kevin Keegan, Alvin Stardust and Joe Bugner all championing the cause. Here, the flaxen-haired Radio One DJ Jimmy Savile exhorts the nation to 'Clunk Click Every Trip'. In this case, the target is women. "It's very likely that 400 of you will be injured in your cars tomorrow. You'll be within six miles of home and doing less than thirty and it's going to happen to a lot of you ladies. You'll be shopping, collecting the kids, going to the launderette." Savile's words are a blunt reminder of the tragedy of contemporary road accident statistics. His gender assumptions (might some women drivers not be on their way to or from work?) remind us that the early 1970s was a far cry from the sprucely politically correct Central Office of Information films aired today.

In 1971, when the 'Clunk Click' campaign was launched, the Department of the Environment reported that road deaths were at their highest for four years in spite of that fact that roads and cars were generally safer and traffic levels unchanged. Statistical analyses of the 'Clunk Click' crusade reported in various newspapers in the mid-1970s showed that although the initial two-month campaign had a significant impact on increasing seat-belt usage, subsequent 'Clunk Click' campaigns (released periodically between 1971 and 1975 at a cumulative cost of £3.5 million) had been less successful. Analyses of the expensive Green Cross Code campaign aimed at children similarly concluded that TV 'fillers' are only significantly effective when they are live, that is, when the campaign ceases to be broadcast the effects diminish - perhaps not surprising?

In essence, the campaign was an impressive feat of marketing. It spawned the best-remembered safety slogan ever, and 'Clunk Click' became a by-word for seatbelt use in the media and in Parliament. It helped whip up a storm of debate around road safety and it was generally conceded that, although statistical evidence suggested it had had little effect on influencing behaviour, the campaign precipitated seatbelt legislation which was ultimately enacted on 31 January 1983. 20 years later the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) reported that "Seat belts are a proven way of reducing the severity of injuries."

Katy McGahan

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