El Pueblo Inc., a nonprofit advocacy organization for North Carolina Hispanics, is taking its message of safe driving to the airwaves.
This month, the group began broadcasting radio spots aimed at educating Latinos about driving safety. The campaign was made possible by a $35,000 grant from State Farm Insurance and will run through the end of the year.
"Radio is the best way to reach the Hispanic community," said Cecilia Saloni, El Pueblo's public safety director. "It is the easiest way to reach the most people at the same time."
Car accidents are the No. 1 cause of death among Hispanics, who make up more than 8 percent of the state's population. Saloni said that although El Pueblo's campaign focuses on culture, driving is at its heart about the individual.
"Driving is something you can control," she said. "It is a decision you make."
The campaign covers topics such as drunken driving, child seating and seat belt use and uses five 60-second radio clips broadcast in Spanish. They will be broadcast by eight stations in Charlotte, the Triad and the Triangle.
"Our goal is to make the Hispanic community stronger in the knowledge of this country," Saloni said. "When you speak with people in the same language it is so different. It makes us more connected with the people."
Jim Stevens-Arce, vice president of Hispanic marketing for Howard, Merrell and Partners, said his company helped El Pueblo create the ads to have a larger impact on the local Hispanic community through radio. The ads are mainly targeting men 18 to 30, the group most likely to drink and drive.
Family is a key part of Hispanic life, and several of the spots emphasize domestic life, featuring relatives or spouses who have been hurt by drunken driving, Stevens-Arce said.
"These ads reach people more emotionally than it would otherwise," he said. "The people receiving this message may not converse in English, so hearing it in Spanish helps."
Cliff Braam, the highway safety engineer for DOT's Division of Mobility and Safety, said he admired El Pueblo's efforts as it worked toward reducing drunken driving in North Carolina's Hispanic communities.
Last year, 1,966 Latinos were involved in alcohol-related crashes and 37 were killed.
"Education is a key point in changing human behavior," Braam said.
