• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 30, 2014

Summer is the most dangerous time for traffic accidents, due largely to a higher frequency of impaired driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. To combat this annual phenomenon, the Ad Council is joining forces with Clear Channel Communities to launch Safe Summer Driving, a new campaign of public service advertisements for radio and online promoting safe driving and highlighting the risks of distracted and “buzzed” driving.

The campaign, developed pro bono by Merkley + Partners, emphasizes that buzzed driving can be just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated, and also conveys messages to discourage texting while driving, as well as speeding and driving without seatbelts.

Over the next three weeks, PSAs are set to broadcast nationally during airtime and online ad space donated by all of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment’s 840 radio stations, reaching listeners in 150 markets. The donated airtime and digital placements have a total value of around $3.5 million. In addition to the PSAs, the campaign includes an online destination, iHeartRadio.com/SummerDriving, where visitors can learn more about safe driving habits and take a safe driving pledge.

The Safe Summer Driving campaign complements several existing campaigns launched by the Ad Council in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, media companies and advertising industry organizations.

Last year, members of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America donated out-of-home inventory, including over 1,000 billboards and bus shelters to a campaign organized by the Ad Council and the NHTSA to raise awareness of the dangers associated with texting and driving which carries the tagline “Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks." 

In 2012, the Ad Council partnered with Fox on a series of TV spots, produced in partnership with the NHTSA and all 50 state attorneys general, highlighting the risks of texting while driving using dramatic scenes from “Glee.”