WATCH: Deadly 'First Kiss' road safety ad gets green light

The Western Cape government's shocking First Kiss road safety ad‚ showing the deadly consequences of not buckling up‚ has been given the green light by advertising authorities.

The TV ad‚ launched in March‚ won two awards within weeks of its release‚ but not all joined in praising the road safety campaign.

Comments in heated public discussions suggested that the ad's graphic content was nothing short of a horror movie‚ flagging exposure to children as a concern.

But the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) last week found that the ad‚ graphic as it may be‚ promotes a matter of social concern and safety‚ dismissing complaints that it exposed children to violent scenes.

Izak Minnaar‚ Carol McDonald and Amy Richardson had complained that the commercial is “graphic and disturbing”.

The ad‚ which is no longer being flighted on TV and in cinemas‚ follows a young couple on a night of partying. Seated in the backseat of a car‚ their first kiss is interrupted by a collision‚ in which an unbuckled passenger is flung about‚ killing all the car's occupants.

The ad then shows the four bodies lying covered on the road.

Though the tale was too tragic for some‚ the ASA said it found no reason to order the government to pull the campaign:

“... The Directorate is not convinced that the commercial was flighted in a manner that would cause harm to children‚” it said.

On Monday Hector Eliott of Safely Home‚ the Western Cape government's road safety campaign‚ said that the ad had always strictly followed international best practice in protecting children from its graphic content.

The provincial department of transport and public works recently attributed a 27.5% increase in overall seatbelt compliance and a 161% rise in rear seat-belt compliance in the Western Cape to the ad's success.

It also said that in May passenger fatalities were down 30% compared with numbers in 2014 and 2015. Eliott said these results justified the use of shock tactics in the campaign.

“Budget permitting‚ it is our intention to do a digital activation [of the campaign] in September‚ when the road safety calendar theme is seatbelts. We will definitely flight the commercial again in future‚” he said.

In the meantime‚ the government's campaign continues on billboards and online.

On Friday the department said in a statement that 670 people died as a result of a road traffic injury in the Western Cape so far this year.