Tuesday, June 3, 2003
Sequel may be too fast and too dangerous
Movie could spur copycats
Police fear young are too influenced by what they see
By Ann Job / Special to The Detroit News
LOS ANGELES -- Law enforcement officials and safety advocates are stepping up complaints to automakers about advertising that pushes speed and power, while they brace for a possible outbreak of illegal street racing inspired by this week's premiere of the movie, "2Fast 2Furious."
The film is the sequel to "The Fast and The Furious," the hit 2001 movie that police officers in some parts of the country say sparked an increase in street racing incidents.
"Young adults are easily influenced by what they see and we're extremely concerned," said Terrence Jungel, executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs' Association.
"We've experienced street drag racing when there was just a (car) show in town," Jungel said. "This show ("2Fast 2Furious") is going to be in every town. I believe there's going to be some kind of fallout -- I hope I'm dead wrong."
Gary Gibbons, who chairs the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police Traffic Safety Committee, said he hasn't seen "a lot of activity in Michigan" -- so far. But that could change.
"After seeing The Fast and The Furious' when it came out, I maybe became more aware of those kinds of cars," he said. "And you know, there's a saying that what starts on the West Coast eventually comes here, so maybe there's more to come."
The Washington D.C.-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety has a nickname for "The Fast and the Furious" sequel: 2Fast 2Fatal.
"It's obvious the target audience for the movie is teen-agers and young men," said Cathy Chase, the group's director. "They're a dangerous group of drivers" already, according to crash statistics.
The problem isn't just the risk to drivers involved, said California Highway Patrol spokesman Jasper Begay. Others on the road risk injury and death.
Street racing was listed by police as a factor in 135 fatal crashes in 2001, up from 72 in 2000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Last year, San Diego State University's transportation safety institute surveyed the road-ready attitudes of more than 2,300 young drivers in driving school -- most to earn their license for the first time and the rest because they had already been cited with traffic violations.
The study found that, on average, young drivers felt they were speeding only if they were driving at or above 90 mph, that teen traffic violators are less concerned with risky driving behavior, and that more than half of the entire group admitted to being in a car during dangerous acts such as drunk or reckless driving and drag racing.
Institute director Sheila Sarkar called the results "discomforting" and said numerous factors contribute to such flip attitudes behind the wheel, including poor examples of safe driving from friends and parents, video games that emphasize speeding and evading police, and the popularity of movies such as "2Fast 2Furious."
At the same time, there also is growing dismay about ever more automotive advertising that seems to glorify reckless driver behavior.
The Arlington, Va.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is backed by the insurance industry, has written to several car companies about ads the group feels are inappropriate.
"Sometimes, the advertising agencies are a bit out of control," said Institute President Brian O'Neill. "Sometimes, executives at the auto manufacturers (aren't aware of safety issues in the ads)."
In a recent Pontiac commercial, for example, a father is in a car with his two sons, who are playing a video game. The driver is transformed and becomes part of the video game, racing his sons in his Pontiac.
"The game ends and he says, I won,'" said O'Neill, who believes the message to children is that it's OK to race and speed.
Mark-Hans Richer, director of advertising for Pontiac, said O'Neill is missing the point.
"(The ad) is really about the relationship between a father and his two sons," Richer said. The ad shows the father using his thumbs on the car's tap shift in a manner similar to his sons operating their video game.
"It's kind of (the dad) making a statement that I'm cool, too,'" Richer said. "We're certainly not trying to encourage unsafe driving or child endangerment. The sons are in their child seats and have their safety belts on the whole time, and during the ad they haven't moved one iota."
The Insurance Institute isn't the only group writing letters and hoping to see changes.
A few months ago, the California Highway Patrol objected to a proposed Nissan Motor Co. ad featuring a Nissan executive boasting about his speeding violations. Nissan wanted to use a highway patrol officer in the ad.
"(We) must object to any auto maker's marketing plan that uses excessive speed of their vehicles as a selling point," Tom Marshall, spokesman for the highway patrol, said in a letter to Nissan's ad agency. "I personally feel this proposed campaign is irresponsible."
What galled the law enforcement agency was using a Nissan official -- whether real or fictional -- to make light of breaking the law, Marshall said in an interview.
Marshall has yet to receive a response from Nissan or its ad agency. Nissan spokesman Scott Vazin wasn't sure which ad Marshall was referring to. But the automaker tries to strike a balance that shows it sells vehicles with a performance image, but doesn't encourage drivers to behave irresponsibly in them, Vazin said.
But O'Neill said: "This is all where our culture is headed. Young drivers in fast cars is what it's all about." Crash victims have tried to bring change, O'Neill said, "but it never seems to catch on because there's this image that speed is fun."
Detroit News wire services contributed to this report. Ann Job is a California-based free-lance writer.
http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosinsider/0306/03/c01-182227.htm
Sequel may be too fast and too dangerous
Movie could spur copycats
Police fear young are too influenced by what they see
By Ann Job / Special to The Detroit News
LOS ANGELES -- Law enforcement officials and safety advocates are stepping up complaints to automakers about advertising that pushes speed and power, while they brace for a possible outbreak of illegal street racing inspired by this week's premiere of the movie, "2Fast 2Furious."
The film is the sequel to "The Fast and The Furious," the hit 2001 movie that police officers in some parts of the country say sparked an increase in street racing incidents.
"Young adults are easily influenced by what they see and we're extremely concerned," said Terrence Jungel, executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs' Association.
"We've experienced street drag racing when there was just a (car) show in town," Jungel said. "This show ("2Fast 2Furious") is going to be in every town. I believe there's going to be some kind of fallout -- I hope I'm dead wrong."
Gary Gibbons, who chairs the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police Traffic Safety Committee, said he hasn't seen "a lot of activity in Michigan" -- so far. But that could change.
"After seeing The Fast and The Furious' when it came out, I maybe became more aware of those kinds of cars," he said. "And you know, there's a saying that what starts on the West Coast eventually comes here, so maybe there's more to come."
The Washington D.C.-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety has a nickname for "The Fast and the Furious" sequel: 2Fast 2Fatal.
"It's obvious the target audience for the movie is teen-agers and young men," said Cathy Chase, the group's director. "They're a dangerous group of drivers" already, according to crash statistics.
The problem isn't just the risk to drivers involved, said California Highway Patrol spokesman Jasper Begay. Others on the road risk injury and death.
Street racing was listed by police as a factor in 135 fatal crashes in 2001, up from 72 in 2000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Last year, San Diego State University's transportation safety institute surveyed the road-ready attitudes of more than 2,300 young drivers in driving school -- most to earn their license for the first time and the rest because they had already been cited with traffic violations.
The study found that, on average, young drivers felt they were speeding only if they were driving at or above 90 mph, that teen traffic violators are less concerned with risky driving behavior, and that more than half of the entire group admitted to being in a car during dangerous acts such as drunk or reckless driving and drag racing.
Institute director Sheila Sarkar called the results "discomforting" and said numerous factors contribute to such flip attitudes behind the wheel, including poor examples of safe driving from friends and parents, video games that emphasize speeding and evading police, and the popularity of movies such as "2Fast 2Furious."
At the same time, there also is growing dismay about ever more automotive advertising that seems to glorify reckless driver behavior.
The Arlington, Va.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is backed by the insurance industry, has written to several car companies about ads the group feels are inappropriate.
"Sometimes, the advertising agencies are a bit out of control," said Institute President Brian O'Neill. "Sometimes, executives at the auto manufacturers (aren't aware of safety issues in the ads)."
In a recent Pontiac commercial, for example, a father is in a car with his two sons, who are playing a video game. The driver is transformed and becomes part of the video game, racing his sons in his Pontiac.
"The game ends and he says, I won,'" said O'Neill, who believes the message to children is that it's OK to race and speed.
Mark-Hans Richer, director of advertising for Pontiac, said O'Neill is missing the point.
"(The ad) is really about the relationship between a father and his two sons," Richer said. The ad shows the father using his thumbs on the car's tap shift in a manner similar to his sons operating their video game.
"It's kind of (the dad) making a statement that I'm cool, too,'" Richer said. "We're certainly not trying to encourage unsafe driving or child endangerment. The sons are in their child seats and have their safety belts on the whole time, and during the ad they haven't moved one iota."
The Insurance Institute isn't the only group writing letters and hoping to see changes.
A few months ago, the California Highway Patrol objected to a proposed Nissan Motor Co. ad featuring a Nissan executive boasting about his speeding violations. Nissan wanted to use a highway patrol officer in the ad.
"(We) must object to any auto maker's marketing plan that uses excessive speed of their vehicles as a selling point," Tom Marshall, spokesman for the highway patrol, said in a letter to Nissan's ad agency. "I personally feel this proposed campaign is irresponsible."
What galled the law enforcement agency was using a Nissan official -- whether real or fictional -- to make light of breaking the law, Marshall said in an interview.
Marshall has yet to receive a response from Nissan or its ad agency. Nissan spokesman Scott Vazin wasn't sure which ad Marshall was referring to. But the automaker tries to strike a balance that shows it sells vehicles with a performance image, but doesn't encourage drivers to behave irresponsibly in them, Vazin said.
But O'Neill said: "This is all where our culture is headed. Young drivers in fast cars is what it's all about." Crash victims have tried to bring change, O'Neill said, "but it never seems to catch on because there's this image that speed is fun."
Detroit News wire services contributed to this report. Ann Job is a California-based free-lance writer.
http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosinsider/0306/03/c01-182227.htm
