Organisation: Highways England
Date of launch: March 2021
Date uploaded: 30 March 2021
If you break down – go left! That’s the message in Highways England’s biggest ever campaign to help drivers feel safer on the country’s motorways.
The new campaign explains what drivers should do if they encounter problems with their vehicle – and forms part of the DfT’s 18-point action plan to improve safety on, and public confidence of, smart motorways.
Millions of journeys are made every day on the country’s busiest roads – motorways and major A-roads – and Highways England says most are incident-free.
However, in 2019 there were almost 230,000 reported breakdowns across the Highways England network – including around 207,500 on motorways.
The campaign advises drivers who are unable to exit the motorway at the next junction or service area to:
• Put your left indicators on
• Move into the left lane
• Enter the next emergency area, or hard shoulder
• Put your hazard lights on
• Get behind a safety barrier where there is one
• Call Highways England on 0300 123 5000, then a breakdown provider for help
Set to the tune of the Pet Shop Boys’ hit version of the ‘Go West’ song, the campaign advert delivers a clear, single-minded message – go left.
Highways England says testing with focus groups found the ‘distinctive characters, music and humour made the important message very memorable’ and hopes it will help people remember what to do in the event of an emergency.
Find out more about the campaign on the Highways England website:
https://highwaysengland.co.uk/about-us/go-left-we-launch-our-biggest-ever-motorway-safety-campaign/