Editor,
The "100 Days & Nights of Summer" campaign is an effort by the State of New Mexico Department of Transportation and New Mexico State Police to reduce automobile fatalities by 25 percent in 2008. It is said that summertime is the deadliest time of the year on New Mexico roads. Last year's campaign resulted in a decrease in fatalities by more than 15 percent. This summer, the department is encouraging people to slow down, buckle up and to not drink and drive by using new, slightly humorous television commercials.
I don't feel the current, humorous commercials are the best way to go about getting the message across. One of the new ads shows a man go through a checkpoint and fail numerous sobriety tests. He looks into the camera and mentions something to this effect: "I just miserably failed a series of tests and am going to attempt to avoid arrest." Then he runs from police.
The message they want people to have is that even if you think you're invincible, you can still get a DWI. For some individuals who don't fully grasp the whole ad, these commercials could possibly relay the wrong message: Run away from the police when you fail sobriety tests at checkpoints. My hope is the ads don't send the wrong message and that police are able to reach their goal in reducing DWI fatalities by 25 percent this summer.
Lucia M. Fronterotta
UNM student
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