The Bottom Line on Safe Driving
They air a lot of commercials for local insurance agencies and insurance law offices on the TV stations around here. Maybe we get more accidents than the average town, who knows? I don’t usually pay much attention, except to maybe get a chuckle out of a lawyer in a flashy suit, or some classic bad acting now and then, but this one caught my attention…
The scene opens on the grinning plaintiff talking with his lawyer, and… the dialog here belongs in a comic book. The Judge sides with the plaintiff, finding the defendant guilty of vehicular negligence resulting in serious bodily harm. The plaintiff’s lawyer shakes the plaintiff’s hand and says “Don’t worry, we’ll get the money! Trust funds, college fund, whatever the kid has, we’ll find it and squeeze’im dry!”
Then they show the defendant, a teenage kid, standing with his parents. As everyone files out, the defendant’s lawyer says “I’m sorry, there’s nothing that can be done. If you have money… they’ll find it!”
Then the spokesperson speaks directly to the camera: Parents, it doesn’t have to happen like this! If you just get full coverage with our insurance company, etcetera etcetera…”
Besides the overwritten “crooked lawyer” dialog, one of the things that kind of bugged me about the commercial was that I kind of felt more sympathy for the plaintiff than the defendant. It’s hard to get the audience on a character’s side when you open the commercial up by stating that he seriously injured somebody by being a negligent driver!
This is kind of going off on a tangent here, but it definitely had me thinking “Well, if his parents had taught the kid the art of safe driving, nobody would’ve gotten hurt, and the kid could still go to college!”
Let’s look past the money it will cost you if you cause an accident. The bottom line is that somebody could get seriously injured or killed. You know that anger you feel when you see some dope speed up at every yellow light, run through stop signs, and never, ever put down the cell phone?
It’s not just that they’re annoying, it’s that they’re out there playing games with the lives and safety of everyone on the road. As long as we can draw a line between fleeting annoyance and road rage, it’s practically our civic duty to be get seriously irked at irresponsible drivers. When you get behind the wheel of a car, you enter a social contract that says “I will do my best to be a safe driver”.
I’m kind of off topic now, but what I’m getting at is that that insurance company needs to find a new director for their commercials. “Vehicular negligence resulting in serious bodily harm” kind of makes for a defendant who’s very hard to sympathize with.
Maybe I’ll have my own commercial: Parents, it doesn’t have to happen like this! Teach your kids to stay off the dang cell phone, keep both hands on the wheel, and obey all rules of the road! Etcetera etcetera….
Tags: Insurance company, Road rage, Safe driver, Safe driving
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