Parsley hails victory on road safety ads, demands reallocation of funding

6.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 4th Jul 2007

Alliance Youth Affairs spokesperson Ian James Parsley

Alliance Youth Affairs spokesperson Ian James Parsley has described indications by the Minister of the Environment that road safety money will be reallocated away from costly television advertising as a "victory for common sense", and demanded the money now be put directly into driver training.

The North Down Councillor stated: "The Minister's stated intention to review the amount of money allocated to television advertising must now be turned into a reallocation of money away from advertising and straight into driver education.

"Supposedly 'hard-hitting' television adverts in fact have minimal demonstrable effect on driver behaviour. They are not value for money.

"The money would be better allocated directly to investment in advanced driver training. In many walks of life we have come to believe in further education and lifelong learning - that applies to driving just as it does to anything else.

"Stopping such huge amounts being spent on advertising will free up funding for programmes which will actually deliver safer travel for all road users. It has taken six years even to get this far, but we may now have turned the corner."

ENDS