29 November 2010
You’ve seen the ads: ‘Speed Kills’, and the ‘little pinky finger’ twiddle that implies P-plater males who speed have small, um, gadgets... “No-one thinks big of you”. Not in the least.
All these ads are fantastic and drive home (excuse the pun) the message that speeding is dangerous (it’s actually the number-one cause of death on our roads), but one anti-speeding campaign approach you may not have seen is an American one released by a rapping doctor (yes, an actual GP) named D D D D… Dr Clarke.
Now rapping is not new to this doctor. He previously made his music debut by releasing a little tune to raise awareness of, and to help with prevention of, swine flu (watch it here).
And the song doesn’t end here (it gets better) – he actually won the US Dept. of Health & Human Services 2009 Flu Prevention Video PSA Contest for it.
So just in time for the silly season, we present to you the road-rap that has all of New York singing in the streets. Get your groove on and listen to Dr Clarke’s anti-speeding rap here. Warning: it’s catchy, dog.
http://transalt.org/files/campaigns/enforcement/DriveSafeNewYork.mp3
And if you didn’t catch some of those speeding lyrics, here they are again to read slowly.
The lyrics
It's Dr. Clarke and I'm glad to be back up in the Factory,
To spit another rap to see, prevention of a tragedy.
No need to speed, 20 miles per hours actually,
The recommended speed to avoid a fatality.
"Slow down!" is something that you've heard before,
The situation's bad, but I ain't talking 'bout the Jersey Shore.
Yeah, yo we could save a life with this!
Protecting them, everyone: Pedestrian, Cyclist, Senior, Jogger, Mother, Child, or Father.
The risk of death increases over 20 miles per hour!
Slow to react, if you drive too fast,
Can't brake quick enough! No surprise! You crash!
Hit someone doing 40, 70% chance you kill them.
At 30, you give them an 80% chance of living!
At 20, only 2% chance you kill the victim.
We should try 20 mile per hour zones like in England!
(Chorus)
New York! Drive safe! Stay alive! Please pay attention to the speed when you drive!
20 mile per hour zones, prevent driving fast! Make streets safe and stop a deadly crash!
New York! Drive safe! Stay alive! Please pay attention to the speed when you drive!
20 mile per hour zones, prevent driving fast! Make streets safe and stop a deadly crash!
(Verse 2)
It's kinda crazy 'cause, children they're afraid to just,
Go outside and play because, speeding cars are dangerous.
Streets of New York could be a safe place they could trust, 20 mile per hour zones will help make it safe for us.
Careful at the crosswalk, walk cross the street right,
Look both ways, wait for the green street light.
If you're a driver, make sure, to wait for, pedestrians to cross, you've got to yield, it's the State law!
Facts are surprising, that's why I'm rhyming,
Speed causes more deadly crashes than drunk driving!
Crashes be increasing in the afternoon and evening, November, December, Holiday Season.
Speed's the number-one cause of deadly crashes here in New York,
Costs lots of cash when you crash, this is true talk.
Solo on the microphone, but I know I'm know I'm not alone,
Hoping for promotion of the 20 mile per hour zone!