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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Maybe viewers were nodding off when the "Don't be a Bob" ads flashed on their TV screens.
Perhaps they were eating, drinking, using their cell phones or otherwise distracted when the "Zero Fatalities" advertisements were broadcast.
Despite a $300,000 advertising campaign aimed at ending fatalities on Utah highways, there has been no reduction in highway fatalities. There were 115 fatalities in Utah in the first six months this year, compared to 113 in the same period last year.
Despite the statistics, Robert Hull, director of traffic and safety for the Utah Department of Transportation, defended UDOT's "Zero Fatalities" campaign, saying it validates the need to further educate the public about safe driving.
"We're only six months into this," Hull said. "Yes, the numbers are up, but that obviously means that we need to do more than we have been doing as a state, as agencies, as organizations and as private individuals."
UDOT's campaign was launched in January, with support from AAA and other groups.
Rolayne Fairclough, spokeswoman for AAA of Utah, said educational campaigns have proven to make a difference in public behaviors.
"I think one of the things you see more of is people wearing seat belts and using car seats because of education," Fairclough said.
UDOT anticipates it has enough funding to run its "Zero Fatalities" campaign for at least three years. The agency wants to keep it going indefinitely.
In February, UDOT began running a series of radio and television advertisements to promote having zero fatalities. Current spots are meant to send the message that any person can be killed in a road accident, Hull said.
The campaign contends the major causes of traffic deaths are distracted, drowsy, aggressive or impaired driving and not using seat belts.
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On the Web:
Zero Fatalities: http://www.zerofatalities.com
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Information from: Deseret Morning News, http://www.deseretnews.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
