- Clunk Click Every Trip
-
"Clunk Click Every Trip" was the slogan of a series of British public information films sponsored by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), commencing in January 1971 and starring Jimmy Savile. The slogan was introduced during the previous campaign, fronted by Shaw Taylor and featuring the slogan "Your Seatbelt Is Their Security". However, it was the onomatopoeia used by Taylor to describe the act of closing the door and fastening a seatbelt that proved the most memorable aspect of that campaign, and so it was upgraded to act as the slogan when the films moved into colour.
The advertisements highlighted the dangers of being thrown through the windscreen in a traffic collision and reminded drivers that the first thing they should do after closing the door ("Clunk") is fasten their seatbelt ("Click"). These advertisements helped lay the groundwork for compulsory seatbelt use in the front seat of a vehicle, which came into force on 31 January 1983, in the UK, although car manufacturers had been legally obliged to fit front seatbelts in vehicles since 1965.[1]
Contents
Films
Some of the films in the series included:
- Maximillian, in which a young man who was paralysed in a car crash as a result of not wearing a seatbelt advises the audience to "Clunk Click Every Trip".
- Shopping, with Jimmy explaining that, contrary to popular belief, most road accidents occur on short trips and often on roads with which the driver is familiar, such as women going shopping for groceries or collecting children from school.
- Accidents At Speed, showing what can happen to an unbelted person in the front of a car in a crash at 30mph or faster.
- Lucky Escape, where a young couple explain how seatbelt use saved their lives in an accident that completely crushed their car.
- Myrtle, showing a woman who was blinded in a car accident because she wasn't belted in.
- Loose Objects, in which Jimmy demonstrates, using an egg in two different boxes, how a seatbelt will protect you in the event of an accident.
The last Public Information Film to use the slogan was Elephant, produced in 1993.
See also
References
http://www.rospa.com/about/history/seatbelt-history.aspx
External links
Categories:- Car safety
- Advertising slogans
- Public information films
- 1971 in the United Kingdom
- 1971 introductions
- 1993 disestablishments
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.