Take it to the limit, but no more (From Bournemouth Echo)

Take it to the limit, but no more

10:01am Thursday 2nd July 2009

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I’M SURE we have all cringed at the very effective television advertisement where a young girl is lying dead against a tree at the side of a road having been knocked down by a vehicle.

“If you hit me at 40 miles per hour,” says the voiceover, “there is an 80 per cent chance I will die.”

Suddenly, special effects allow us to see her come alive, with bones bending back to normal, until she suddenly takes a breath.

“If you hit me at 30 miles per hour, there’s an 80 per cent chance I’ll live,” concludes the voiceover, leaving us with the clear message that it’s 30 for a reason.

Carly and Martin Sheehan will certainly be thanking their lucky stars that the driver of the van that was in collision with their two-year-old son Lennon had seen the advert.

Indeed, how rare is it that the mother of an accident victim actually thanks the man at the wheel?

Watching your young son lying in the road fighting for his life has to be the most terrifying thing imaginable, but Lennon’s recovery from his injuries means that this story, unlike so many others, has a happy ending for once.

Carly believes that someone was watching over them that day, but you hope that all of us heading out in our cars today will remember that keeping to the speed limit really can be a life-saver.

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