25th July 2008 8:33 am

As part of this summer’s road safety campaign a new online series and competition will remind youngsters ‘Don’t Die Before You’ve Lived’

Transport for London (TfL) is taking an innovative teen road safety campaign to the worldwide web by teaming up with social media network Bebo this summer.  The initiative aims to warn young people of the dangers they face every day on the Capital’s roads and remind them of the great lives ahead of them.

‘Debutantes’ will be broadcast over the summer holidays as part of Transport for London’s (TfL’s) ongoing ‘Don’t Die Before You’ve Lived’ campaign. The series catches up with the six young people who took part in the TfL/Channel 4 talent weekend last autumn. They were given the opportunity to develop their different career potentials mentored by role models like Dylan Jones, Editor of GQ Magazine and BBC radio presenter Nihal. 

TFL’s use of this format is the first example of a public sector body recognising the popularity and draw of SNS generated ‘must see tv’ series such as Kate Modern or Gap Year.

As an added incentive for this hard to reach audience, the pages include blogs, polls and a Talent Lives competition to find the next generation of cutting edge talent.  Visitors to www.bebo.com/debut  will be invited to upload their creative work – from music to films – and win the opportunity to be mentored by one of their role models.

The latest road safety figures, published last month by TfL showed a 16 per cent drop in the number of young people killed or seriously injured on London’s roads.  Nevertheless, young teenagers aged between 11 and 14 are still the most likely to be involved in a road collision.

Riffat Ahmed, an artist and filmmaker who shot her first music video on the series said: 

“Debutantes has been an amazing platform for me in gaining up-front industry experience.  It has given me a lot of confidence in realising that I can work as a filmmaker. I believe if I want to be successful in life I have to put myself to the test to get enough.” Chris Lines, Head of London Road Safety Unit said:

“Young Londoners play an important role in the Capital and I’m pleased to see that recent figures show another 16 per cent drop in the number of young people killed or seriously injured on London’s roads.  Even so, young teenagers aged between 11 and 14 are still the most likely to be involved in a road collision and we should not be complacent as one injury alone is one too many.

“London has already exceeded the 2010 targets set by the Government for children killed or seriously injured with a 50 per cent reduction as well as reducing the total number of people killed or seriously injured by 40 per cent, three years early.

“With summer here, children and people have more leisure time. Debutantes and Talent Lives will support the incredibly vital work we already do which ensures that young people are aware of the importance of road safety and that many young lives, full of potential are not wasted.” Dominic Tillson, UK Sales Manager,  Bebo said:

“Tfl has partnered with Bebo to create a highly innovative and creative campaign which will extend the success of the Débutantes experience amongst Bebo’s highly engaged audience of 11.9 million UK users. Representing a new platform for storytelling Bebo provides a powerful medium through which to communicate the message ‘Don’t Die Before You’ve Lived’.

The audience has the opportunity to move the story along and interact on multiple levels - whether it’s asking advice from the show characters, sharing their passions in life or helping in the search for participants and mentors for the next series - and this promises to be an incredibly successful campaign.”

For further information please visit: www.bebo.com/debut and www.tfl.gov.uk.

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