Removing Stunt Driving From Car Commercials Probably Isn't Going To Make Roads Any Safer

It’s no secret that America’s roads have been getting more dangerous. And as easy as it is to blame cell phones, every other developed nation has plenty of cell phones but has still managed to make its roads safer while the U.S. gets worse. Don’t worry, though. NBC News reports the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has an idea for how to fix this — taking the stunt driving out of car commercials.

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“Nearly one-third of our roadway deaths are speeding related, and this sort of advertising is dangerous and contributes to a culture of speeding that costs lives,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told NBC News. “Everyone — including vehicle manufacturers — shares in the responsibility for safety on our roads.”

The plan involves asking the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) to see if it can find a link between spirited driving in car commercials and people actually driving more dangerously on the road. While we’re big fans of policy changes and infrastructure improvements that make our roads safer, we have a hard time believing that automakers changing their commercials is going to do anything significant to change the way people drive.

Even David Zuby, the IIHS’s chief research officer, was skeptical when he spoke to NBC, saying that even if there is a link between car commercials and reckless driving, it will be hard to prove it – although he did say, “It probably doesn’t help driver behavior to have everyday cars being shown driven aggressively.”

Sure, it can’t hurt to take the stunt driving out of car commercials. It’s just hard to believe that if someone loses control of their $20,000 used Dodge Challenger on the highway it’s because they saw a commercial showing someone driving fast and not because, you know, their car has 470 horsepower going only to the rear wheels and people think it’s fun to make loud noises and go fast.

Even one of the cases highlighted by the NTSB has a huge asterisk attached to it. A January 2022 crash where the driver was going over 100 mph in a 35-mph zone killed eight people, as well as the driver, which is horrific. Considering the man was on cocaine and PCP at the time of the crash, though, the car commercials he watched probably didn’t have much to do with his decision to drive so recklessly.

Maybe the IIHS will be able to establish a link between car commercials and reckless driving. If that’s the case, we’ll be more than happy to call on automakers to change the ways they advertise. Until then, though, we’ll be much more focused on advocating for changes such as road diets, improving pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, expanding public transportation and other changes that seem much more likely to actually make roads safer and save lives.