According to a recent survey by  the London transport authority, Transport for London, most teenagers regularly cross the road whilst using mobile phones or listening to music. In an attempt to reduce the number of casualties on the capital’s roads Transport for London have launched  a hard-hitting, graphic advertising campaign called “Stop. Think. Live”. One advertising poster shows a boy lying dead in the road with headphones still in place with the slogan “My friend heard the track. He didn’t hear the van”. It’s not just youngsters though, is it?

How often have you seen people, well past their teenage years,  talking on their phones or listening to music on their mp3 players as they walk down the street, cross the road, jog along the pavement or ride a bicycle all the while seeming oblivious to the traffic whizzing by them? As children, we were all warned of the dangers of traffic and told to take care whilst crossing the road. Children need to be told, but adults?

No matter how old you are, if your head is filled with music how can you possibly hear the sound of traffic or the warning shout of another person as danger approaches? How can you react to danger if you are not aware of its presence?

Maybe London’s road safety campaign should become national because it seems to me that many of us are just accidents waiting to happen. In a democracy we should always be free to choose how we lead our lives and free to choose the risks we wish to take. However, from time to time perhaps we need to be reminded of the dangers around us if only for our own good. Quite often in life “common” sense is anything but that.