Rogue Director Sam Cadman and Road Safety Collide

Rogue Films' Sam Cadman recently directed a road safety film to highlight problems caused by - yet the surprising indifference to - texting & driving, a dangerous example of distracted driving.  The video titled "Cabbie" was produced through Station Film using hidden cameras and includes real people getting into a taxi.

According to MullenLowe Creative Director John Kearse, "People text and drive. These same people know that texting and driving is a bad idea. Yet, in a classic case of 'it won’t happen to me,' they continue to do it. Far more people are injured in distracted driving accidents than drunk driving. Obviously, drunk driving is nothing to joke about, and is something any reasonable person would classify as a terrible idea. Why do we view texting and driving differently?" 

Kearse noted, "The vodka was water. The beers were energy drinks with beer labels wrapped around them. So the cabbie was very wound up by the end of the day, even though his demeanor remained extremely relaxed. That’s some serious acting.” He had really been a NYC cabbie at one point.

The driver was never actually texting. All sounds and "texts" from his phone were pre-recorded video clips that made it seem like he was actually sending and receiving messages. So no lives were put at risk in the making of this video. 

The video is launched in the US to coincide with National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. According to data from the National Safety Council (NSC), talking on a mobile phone while driving increases accident risk 4X, and texting while driving increases accident risk by 8-23X. The NSC data is posted here. Research found that people are generally far more concerned about drinking and driving than they are about texting and driving. It’s a credit to the decades of awareness efforts around drunk driving and a signal that much more needs to be done to discourage texting and driving.