TY - JOUR T1 - Smooth handling: The lack of safety-related consumer information in car advertisements JF - Injury Prevention JO - Inj Prev SP - 304 LP - 306 DO - 10.1136/ip.2007.016402 VL - 13 IS - 5 AU - Nick Wilson AU - Anthony Maher AU - George Thomson AU - Michael Keall Y1 - 2007/10/01 UR - http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/13/5/304.abstract N2 - Objective: To examine the content and trends of safety-related consumer information in magazine vehicle advertisements, as a case study within the worldwide marketing of vehicles.Methods: Content analysis of popular current affairs magazines in New Zealand for the 5-year period 2001–2005 was undertaken (n  =  514 advertisements), supplemented with vehicle data from official websites.Results: Safety information in advertisements for light passenger vehicles was relatively uncommon with only 27% mentioning one or more of nine key safety features examined (average: 1.7 out of nine features in this 27%). Also included were potentially hazardous features of: speed imagery (in 29% of advertisements), power references (14%), and acceleration data (4%). The speed and power aspects became relatively more common over the 5-year period (p < 0.05 for trend).Conclusions: To enhance informed consumer choice and improve injury prevention, governments should consider regulating the content of vehicle advertisements and vehicle marketing – as already occurs with many other consumer products. ER -