Focus on addressing the driver
Youth organization TeamAlert is starting a campaign for the third time to combat laughing gas use among young people in traffic. The campaign is again called ‘Rij Ballonvrij’, but the focus of the campaign is elsewhere this time.
Getting behind the wheel with a sip is totally irresponsible, the same goes for driving while under the influence of other narcotics. In recent years there have been many traffic incidents due to young people using laughing gas. We are not talking about nitrous oxide (N2O) that is used to temporarily draw extra power from your engine, but about its use as drugs. It is usually inhaled through a balloon as an anesthetic. What seems? Most young people find the use of laughing gas in traffic dangerous, but find it difficult or annoying to address the driver about the use of laughing gas in the car.
This is shown by research by youth organization TeamAlert. For the third year in a row, TeamAlert is launching a campaign to combat the use of laughing gas among young people in traffic. This time the campaign focuses on, among other things, addressing the driver who uses laughing gas, as research by TeamAlert shows that one in four young people find this annoying. The message: ‘Don’t be a clown in traffic. How do you address someone else?’
Minister Harbers (Infrastructure and Water Management) says he is happy with the new campaign: “The number of accidents involving nitrous oxide is far too large, I find that worrying. The cabinet is therefore committed to tackling nitrous oxide use in traffic. In addition to enforcement, we focus on information and awareness, where young people are a very important target group. It is great that TeamAlert makes the risks clear to them.”
Between 2019 and 2021, no fewer than 1,800 traffic accidents are believed to have occurred in which the use of nitrous oxide played a role. Of these, 63 had a fatal outcome.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl