Cox Communications to air cartoon about river safety

Date published: 7/14/2005

WEB EXTRA: Watch Dr. Mussey's animations

By BILL FREEHLING

Watching swimmers in the Rappahannock River a few summers ago, Dr. Steven Mussey was horrified by what he saw.

Children bobbed up and down, unaccompanied by adults and oblivious to the holes on the river floor. None wore a life jacket.

“It amazes me that more people don’t drown in the Rappahannock,” Mussey said.

Mussey, an internist whose practice is on Lafayette Boulevard in Spotsylvania County, went to work on an animated short about the river’s dangers.

He wrapped up the project last week just as bad news came—two people had drowned in the Rappahannock during the July Fourth holiday weekend, and neither wore a life jacket.

“It was kind of eerie,” Mussey said about the timing.

His cartoon shows a father and daughter swimming in the Rappahannock. The father is without a life jacket, and twice goes under despite claiming to be a strong swimmer and knowing the river.

Cox Communications sensed an opportunity to help the community. The local cable provider will start airing the spot this week, less than two weeks after Mussey submitted it.

Cox spokesman Alex Horwitz said the public service announcement will run through September. It will appear throughout the day on dozens of popular channels.

“These spots are incredibly timely,” Horwitz said. “It’s a very unique way to get an important message across.”

This isn’t the first time Mussey’s work has aired on Cox, which serves customers in Fredericksburg and surrounding counties.

Two of his 30-second animated spots on aggressive driving have been running since March 30— about 1,200 times a month. Horwitz said they’ll probably be on through the end of the year.

One features a man angry at being stuck behind a slow driver. The other shows the same driver speeding to catch a car. Both end in wreckage.

Date published: 7/14/2005