Thames Valley group launches young driver campaign

The Thames Valley Road Safety Officers’ Group has launched For my girlfriend (FMG), the young driver publicity campaign that highlights the potentially tragic consequences of driving too fast. FMG has opened in the Thames Valley region with a significant direct mail effort in the run up to Valentines Day on 14 February.

FMG has run successfully in eastern England for the past couple of years. The campaign features an image of a crashed car with a red rose placed on it, and the strapline ‘For my girlfriend’. The copy goes on to say ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to kill you – I was driving too fast’.

The direct mail programme is targeting educational establishments, night clubs, leisure clubs and major employers across Bracknell Forest, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Milton Keynes, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor & Maidenhead and Wokingham - places where young drivers are likely to be found in significant numbers. These establishments are being asked to distribute the FMG postcard to their students/members/customers.

On Valentine’s Day itself the campaign will feature at Adams Park, the ground of Wycombe Wanderers, when the home team takes on Luton Town in a Nationwide Division Two local derby.

A theatre in education (TIE) production based on the FMG imagery and storyline has been written by a young St Albans based writer, Nick Helm. The play features a cast of four and incorporates a collection of scenes, monologues and movement based sequences that cover a broad range of themes and emotions - presented in a retrospective, straight forward and honest light. The play is being performed by local company Bad Ash Productions at schools and colleges across Buckinghamshire in early February.

For further information about For my girlfriend visit the campaign website www.formygirlfriend.co.uk.