North east drug drive campaign picks up award

A north east anti-drug drive initiative Drug Driving - You'd Be Off Your Head , has received a Prince Michael International Award for its innovative marketing campaign.

The initiative is backed by a consortium of regional road safety officers, drug action teams and north east police forces. The campaign uses radio adverts to highlight genuine case studies of people whose lives have been adversely affected by drug driving. Posters and bus backs are also displayed throughout the region.

"We spent a lot of time getting the messages right for this campaign and evaluating it effectively," said Vanessa Bainbridge from the Northumberland drug action team. "The evaluation shows that it has had a quantifiable impact. The incidences of accidents involving drug driving are an increasing problem and we need to raise awareness of this if we are to make a positive impact on peoples' driving behaviour."