A television advertisement showing friends and family sharing precious moments without the loved ones they have lost to road accidents has been created for Bermuda’s young adults.

The short film by A Piece of the Rock documentary film and road safety campaign aims to raise broad awareness of the chronic issue of road safety.

Shari-Lynn Pringle, campaign manager at A Piece of the Rock, partner to Drive for Change, said: “The advertisement, titled If Only You Were Here, is intended to engage young adults to become more aware of their actions on the road and how it impacts people in their lives.”

The advertisement was directed by young Bermudian film-maker Marq Rodriguez and developed by A Piece of the Rock’s Manish Thareja. “It features young adults and ordinary Bermudians who are deeply concerned about this issue and want to make a difference by raising more awareness,” Mr Thareja said. “None of these people were actors. Over the past ten years, there have been about 15,000 road crashes in Bermuda and more than a 120 road fatalities.

“Road crash data from the Bermuda Hospitals Board shows that young adults in the 16 to 20-year-old age group make up about 20 per cent or 3,000 of the road crashes.”

Mr Thareja added: “This is an alarming figure in itself and requires urgent action to educate and engage the youth to be more conscientious of their actions. The advertisement will hopefully bring this issue to the forefront and hopefully also make them aware how precious life is.”

A Piece of the Rock plans to have the ad screening via its social media streams as well as in movie theatres and on television.

• Visit A Piece of the Rock on www.facebook.com/makebermudaroadssafer