A new ad from Ireland’s Road Safety Authority (RSA) is being criticised as “ableist” by disability rights activists. The campaign, launched on Tuesday, August 19, aims to tackle drink and drug driving and features the tagline: “Lose your licence. Lose your independence.”

In the video, a man is shown getting ‘lifts’ from his family and friends in order to get to and from work, training and a date.

The Road Safety Authority shared the ad with the caption: “When you lose your licence, you become reliant on other people to take you where you need to go and you become a burden for others.

“If you get caught drink or drug driving, you will be disqualified,” it concluded.

Responding to the campaign on X, disability rights advocate Niamh Ní Hoireabhaird wrote: “I often feel like a burden because I am forced to rely on my mam and dad to give me lifts. It feels great to have this ableist notion repeated back at me by a government-affiliated organisation,” she added sarcastically.

I often feel like a burden because I am forced to rely on my mam and dad to give me lifts. It feels great to have this ableist notion repeated back at me by a government-affiliated organisation. Very validating 👍 https://t.co/YcBJfKoIbT

— Niamh Ní Hoireabhaird (@niamhnih) August 19, 2024

Another prominent activist and GCN contributor Alannah Murray also reacted, saying it “is a joke” that the campaign was approved.

“Blatant ableism. RSA really isn’t worth the money it’s given if this is the best they can do,” they expressed.

The fact a raft of people okayed this campaign is a joke. Blatant ableism. RSA really isn’t worth the money it’s given if this is the best they can do https://t.co/VpfuNmHQV1

— Alannah O’Neill Murray (@AlannahEMurray) August 19, 2024

Similarly, Sinéad Lucey Brennan commented: “I didn’t realise when I couldn’t drive post brain surgery I was such a burden for others! Thanks for reinforcing how awful my loss of independence was.

“Thousands of disabled people are reliant on other people. Do better”.

Several political figures also weighed in on the campaign, with Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan calling for the Road Safety Authority to be disbanded. 

“This is the worst kind of ableist, offensive, car brain nonsense they’ve ever produced,” she wrote.

Disband the @RSAIreland . Not even a major reform can save it.

This is the worst kind of ableist, offensive, car brain nonsense they’ve ever produced. Money was spent on this ad. 🤯 People who cannot or do not drive are not a burden. Delete this tweet and delete the @RSAIreland https://t.co/WXtXWhk6X9

— Neasa Hourigan TD (@neasa_neasa) August 19, 2024

Her Green Party colleague Partick Costello TD echoed this sentiment, saying: “The RSA €100 million budget is absolutely wasted on ridiculous ad campaigns like this.”

Alongside disabled voices, the Irish Cycling Campaign also expressed “deep concerns” over the new video, calling it “part of a troubling pattern of ineffective and misguided road safety initiatives by the RSA in recent years”.

“For too long, many of the campaigns the RSA has produced either miss the mark or are outright insensitive, and this latest effort is no different. It trivialises the serious behaviours that lead to licence disqualification and reinforces harmful stereotypes about independence,” Neasa Bheilbigh, Chairperson of the Irish Cycling Campaign, said.

Below is the Irish Cycling Campaign’s press release in relation to the @RSAIreland “Lose Your Licence, Lose Your Independence” advertising campaign.

We need a safe systems approach to road safety, not more of these nonsense adverts. pic.twitter.com/3O2NllrWrF

— Irish Cycling Campaign (@cyclistie) August 20, 2024

In response to the criticism, the RSA told The Journal: “The campaign is aimed at tackling dangerous driving behaviours, particularly among younger male drivers”.

It continued saying the idea came following feedback from focus groups with young drivers, who “admitted that being forced to ask for lifts from friends and relatives due to a driving ban was something they dreaded”.

“They perceived their licence as being the key to their independence and they indicated that the prospective loss of their licence could fundamentally shift their driving behaviours”, the RSA explained.

“As such, the campaign focuses on their perception of the consequences of losing their licence. It aims to show young male drivers what it is like to become a burden to others, and to encourage safe and responsible behaviours on the road. It highlights the message of an automatic disqualification if caught driving under the influence of drink or drugs.”