Road Safety Authority Ireland: What Do You Think Will Happen?

In Ireland 42% of rear seat passengers killed in the last 10 years were not wearing a seatbelt. Much of the responsibility lies with the driver....but young male drivers fear "social death" more than actual death. They're afraid that if they ask someone to belt up they'll be ridiculed. This work challenges that fear head-on.

"What Do You Think Will Happen" opens on precisely this point, where a young driver is asking his backseat friend to wear a seatbelt. A title reads: “What do you think will happen if you ask your mate to wear a seatbelt?” and from there the viewer enters his imagination. The piece explores, in very fast cut dream sequences, all of his fears – intimidation, emasculation, judgement, exclusion, and finally the viewer is taken through a dream sequence of the potential physical consequences of not wearing a seatbelt, as his friend is thrust forward, as though in a lethal head-first crash. We then see how a normal friend really reacts to being asked to wear their seatbelt – so simple, no big deal – “sure, no problem”, and he puts his seatbelt on.