2. Introduction
Janet Dore, Chief Executive Officer, Transport Accident Commission (TAC)
Overview
About the TAC
Road Safety – the road toll and our strategy to reduce it:
> Our Vision
> Our Road Safety Strategy
> Public Education campaigns
> Drink driving, speed, youth, vehicle safety, motorcycles
3. Retrospective
20 year anniversary of TAC advertising
> 2009 - Created montage of TAC ads from 20 years of campaigns
> Accompanied by REM song ‘Everybody Hurts’
> YouTube – more than 19 million views
> In Brazil over 3 million views
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5. About the TAC
Compulsory Third Party Insurer
> Established by Victorian Government in 1986
> Monopoly insurer for personal injuries sustained in transport accidents
> No-fault scheme, meaning benefits paid regardless of fault
> Premiums collected via motor vehicle registration
> Long term compensation scheme – some clients require lifetime care
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6. About the TAC
Road Trauma Health Disability
safety services care support
Motorist insures TAC funds
when registering ■ Treatment
their vehicle ■ Income
■ Rehabilitation
■ Lifetime care
7. About the TAC
Our objectives are to:
Transport Accident Act (1986)
> Reduce cost of compensation for transport accidents
> Reduce the incidence of transport accidents
> Provide suitable and just compensation for those who are injured or die as a result of
transport accidents
> Provide suitable systems for effective rehabilitation of people injured in a transport
accident
Other investments
> Safer road infrastructure in Victoria
> State Trauma System
> Research especially relating to spinal and brain injuries
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8. About the TAC
Our Clients
> TAC funds medical, rehabilitation and support services
> In 2010/11:
> The TAC funded $937 million in support services and benefits for 43,794 people
> Many of our clients will be with us for life
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10. About the TAC
The State of Victoria, Australia
> Population : 5.6 million
> Registered Vehicles: 4.2 million
> Road network: 200,000 kms
900 km (600 miles)
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11. Road Safety Milestones
World Firsts in Road Safety
> 1970 - Compulsory seatbelt wearing
> 1989 – ‘Booze Bus’ random roadside breath testing
> 2005 – Random roadside drug testing
> Graph of road safety milestones
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14. Safe Systems Vision
Humans make mistakes – the system should help protect road users
Safer Roads
> e.g. Infrastructure to separate opposing direction traffic
Safer Speeds
> e.g. Lowering speed limits in areas where there are vulnerable road users
Safer Vehicles
> e.g. 5 star vehicles can help prevent crashes and protect occupants
Safer People
> e.g. Unimpaired drivers, safer road user behaviour
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15. Partnership Approach
Road Safety Partners
> TAC – public education
> VicRoads - roads authority, licensing and registration
> Victoria Police – enforcement
> Department of Justice – speed camera program
Target
> Set ambitious targets
> Current target : 237 by 2017
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16. Public Education – The TAC’s Approach
Research drives campaign content and targeting
> Crash and infringement data
> TAC client claims data
> International and academic research
> Market research and insight
Evaluation is critical
> Of specific campaigns
> Of the strategy as a whole
> Fund independent evaluation e.g. Monash University Accident Research Centre
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17. Marketing Road Safety
What makes an effective campaign?
E
nt
du
me
ca
rce
ti
on
nfo
= Engagement
E
Emotion
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18. Case Study – Drink Driving Campaign
Drink Drive Bloody Idiot
> December 1989 – first TAC advertisement
> Aimed to set the agenda with the Victorian public
> Confronting style that has become characteristic of TAC ads
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20. Case Study – Drink Driving Campaign
Drink Drive Bloody Idiot
> In 1990 the TAC funded 13 highly visible Victoria Police Booze Buses
> 900,000 random roadside breath tests conducted by Victoria Police members
> Public education focussed on getting caught by Booze Buses and the consequences
> In 1992 the TAC took an emotive approach, depicting the life-long consequences of
drink driving
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22. Case Study – Drink Driving Campaign
Results
> 99% of the community support drink driving enforcement
> Drink driving is socially unacceptable
But in 2002...
> There was an increase in the numbers of drivers getting caught and killed with lower
level illegal blood alcohol content, between 0.05 and 0.10
> This was despite record high levels of booze bus enforcement by police
> Market research showed that some people thought driving when a little bit over the
legal limit was not risky and not really drink driving
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23. Case Study – Drink Driving Campaign
A New Approach
> Target lower level illegal drink driving, rather than excessive drunk driving
> For some drink driving = driving when really drunk
> Educate about the risks associated with driving when a little bit over
> Explore the impacts of lower level drink driving
A New Tag Line
> “Only a little bit over. You bloody idiot.”
> Retain the brand, but refocus on lower level drink driving
> We took a satirical look at the excuse “Only a little bit over”
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25. Case Study – Drink Driving Campaign
Results
> Reductions in lower level drink driving
> More people think “you will get caught if only a little bit over”
> More people agree “the crash risk is high when only a little bit over”
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26. Case Study - Speed Campaign
‘Don’t Fool Yourself, Speed Kills’
> 1990 – the second ever TAC advertisement targeted speeding
> It was accompanied by the introduction of covert mobile speed cameras
> Targeted the excuse “I was just keeping up with the traffic”
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28. Case Study - Speed Campaign
New Approach
> The ‘Speed Kills’ message was well accepted in the community
> Most people admitted to speeding at least some of the time, usually by 5-10km/h
> They didn’t view this as risky or define it as “speeding”
Research showed
> Crash risk in a 60km/h zone doubles with each 5km/h over the limit
> 5km/h reduction in average travel speed = 15% reduction in road trauma
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29. Case Study - Speed Campaign
‘Wipe Off 5’
> Began August 2001
> 2001 - reduction in default urban speed limit from 60km/h to 50km/h
> 50% increase in speed camera enforcement hours
Main messages
> Why low level speeding is dangerous
> Convey consequences of speeding
> Educate about speed camera enforcement
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30. Case Study - Speed Campaign
‘Wipe Off 5’
> In 2002 the ‘Slo Mo’ advertisement took an educative approach
> Features expert, Professor Ian Johnson, Monash University Accident Research Centre
> The power of a factual approach to speed education
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32. Case Study - Speed Campaign
The next phase
> Tackling community scepticism about speed enforcement - “Revenue raising”
> Communicate the real life effects of speeding
> Make speeding as socially unacceptable as drink driving
> The community has a way to go about understanding speeding
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34. Case Study - Speed Campaign
Results of Wipe Off 5
> Fewer drivers report speeding all or most of the time
2001 = 25%, 2011 = 9%
> Fewer drivers think driving up to 10km/h over the limit is not really speeding
2001 = 24%, 2011 = 16%
> Fewer drivers think driving up to 10km/h over the speed limit is usually quite safe
2001 = 35%, 2011 = 25%
> Reductions in average travelling speeds
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35. Case Study – Social Media campaign
Problem
> 2009 - Rural areas were over-represented in the road toll
> Speeding by 20km/h in 100km/h zones considered acceptable
Idea - Rename Speed
> Rural town of Speed with population of 45 – 400km from Melbourne
> Aim – to get 10,000 likes on Facebook page
> Change town’s name from Speed to SpeedKills for a month
> TAC donates $10,000 to the community
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36. Case Study – Social Media campaign
Results
> 10,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook page within 24 hours
> Local farmer Phil Down, agreed to change his name to Phil ‘SlowDown’ if 20,000 likes
were achieved
> 20,000 likes achieved in one week
> More than 800,000 impressions generated from facebook page
> 90% of comments on Facebook supported the cause
> More than 10 million impressions on Twitter
> Videos received more than 80,000 views
> Attracted international media attention including the BBC, The New York Times and
Time magazine
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37. Youth Campaigns
The problem
> Globally, road trauma is biggest cause of death among 16 -25 year olds
> While 18 to 25 year olds represent around 14% of licensed drivers, they accounted for
approximately 28% of all drivers killed on Victoria's roads in 2011
Communicating with youth
> Avoid authoritarian, ‘finger pointing’ approach
> Messages from peers are more convincing
> Peers have a stronger influence on the behaviour of young people
> Media consumption is different, use social networking, mobile phones, internet
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38. Youth Campaigns
Make a Film. Make a Difference.
> Competition for young aspiring film makers (<25 years) to submit an idea
> Two winners make their two-minute films, with $20,000 budget & $5,000 prize
> Industry mentoring
> Films shown in cinemas, at festivals, YouTube, used in schools
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39. Youth Campaigns
Make a Film. Make a Difference
Competition Themes
‘Your mate’s life is in your hands’
> Young men feel the need to show off to their male friends
> Young male passengers often encourage risky behaviour
‘Party in the car’
> Cars can become a social setting for young people
> Travelling with multiple peer passengers increases crash risk for young drivers
> Passengers can be distracting for inexperienced drivers
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40. Youth Campaigns
Make a Film. Make a Difference
Choose one film with Party theme – “What’s on your mind?” 2011
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41. Youth Campaigns
Vanessa
> Mobile cinema bus and chill-out zone that travels to youth festivals and events
> Was initially made from decommissioned booze bus
> Staffed by young people who engage with their peers
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42. Youth Campaigns
Vanessa
> Breath testing
> Free water and other giveaways
> Information about alcohol and drugs
> Shows MAFMAD films
> Photo booth
> Competitions
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43. Youth Campaigns
Vanessa
> Supported by Vanessa’s facebook page (more than 12,000 likes)
> Young people go to the facebook page to see their photos and win competitions
> Enables ongoing conversation with young people
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44. Youth Campaigns
Vanessa
In 2011/12
> More than 23,000 breath tests conducted at 57 events
> Nearly 10,000 people receiving key rings from the photo booths, with the message
“Your Mate’s Life is in Your Hands”
> Vanessa’s facebook page has grown from 1,500 to more than 12,000 fans
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45. Vehicle Safety Campaign
Key Pillar of Safe System
Evidence
> If everyone drove the safest vehicle in their class road trauma could be halved
(European Transport Safety Council)
The Problem
> Vehicles in the Australian market had fewer safety features than the same models in the
US and Europe
> Crash test ratings were available, but consumer awareness low
> Consumers ranked price, comfort, brand, size and colour all before safety
> Manufacturers did not promote vehicle safety, unlike in the US and Europe
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46. Vehicle Safety Campaign
Strategy
> Vehicle safety website – www.howsafeisyourcar.com.au launched in 2002
> Included 80% of vehicles on Australian roads
> Public education campaign to encourage consumers to consider safety when
purchasing
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47. Vehicle Safety Campaign
Two key safety features could make a big
difference to road trauma:
Electronic Stability Control
Curtain Airbags
> From 2007, vehicle safety campaigns
promoted ESC and curtain airbags
> ESC can reduce risk of single vehicle
crash by 25%
> Curtain airbags can reduce risk of death
in a side impact crash by almost 40%
> Victoria was the first Australian jurisdiction
to legislate mandatory ESC
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48. Motorcyclist Safety Campaign
The problem
> Motorcyclists are overrepresented in trauma and receive more serious injuries
> Motorcycle sales are increasing
Protective gear
> ‘Save your skin’ – injuries sustained when not wearing gear
> Retailers, television advertisements, internet
Looking out for motorcycles
> ‘Put yourself in their shoes’
> Encourage motorcyclists and car drivers to look out for each other on the roads
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49. Motorcyclist Safety Campaign
Current campaign – Speeding
> 25% of motorcyclists admit to speeding at least half the time
> Excessive speed contributed to 31% of motorcyclist fatalities in 2011
> Speeding increases risk and gives riders less time to react
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51. Other Campaigns
TAC has also tackled
> Seatbelt wearing – in early TAC ads
> Fatigue – also one of the first TAC ads
> Drug driving – risks and enforcement via roadside saliva testing
> Distraction and mobile phones
> Vulnerable road users including children and pedestrians
> Inexperience and the importance of 120 hours driving practice as a learner
But ...
the TAC’s road safety strategy goes beyond mass media public education
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52. Investment in Infrastructure
Safer Roads Infrastructure Program (SRIP)
Key Pillar of Safe System
> The TAC invests in safety-based infrastructure improvements to Victoria’s road network,
which are then managed by VicRoads
> More than $75 million will be invested in 2012-2013
> The projects focus on Victoria’s highest risk locations for run-off road crashes in
regional areas and high risk intersections
> Projects include improving intersection construction, improving sight distance and
signage, installing wire rope barriers, crash barriers and splitter islands and widening
footpaths
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53. Other Programs
Vehicle Technology
Safe Car – promote emerging safety features
> Intelligent Speed Assist
> Seatbelt Interlock System
> A radar system that is sensitive to tailgating.
> Drowsy Driver Detection
> Lane departure warning
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54. Other Programs
Enhanced Enforcement
> Funding Police to perform enforcement over and above their funded capability
> Target high risk areas and behaviours
> Coordinated with state-wide road safety strategy and TAC initiatives
> Best practice enforcement based on principles of behaviour change and deterrence
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55. Other Programs
Sponsorships
> Using events and partnerships to promote TAC messages in a more targeted way
> Engaging with the community, especially young men, through sporting signage and
partnerships
> Engaging with motorcyclists at MotoGP
> Engaging with people at festivals where drink driving could be a problem
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56. Other Programs
Schools Based Education
> Educational packages targeted at key times and addressing key risks
> Pedestrian behaviour in primary school
> Driver and passenger issues in late secondary school
> Resource modules for use in specific subjects, English, Legal studies, Media studies,
Physics
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57. Community Road Safety Grants
Purpose
> Encourages community involvement in local road safety
in ways that are consistent with the Road Safety strategy
> Provides opportunities for communities to address road
safety issues at a local level
> Community-based road safety programs that integrate
with Victoria’s broader strategy are more effective at
improving road safety
> Received 326 applications
> Approved 213 projects
> Committed funding worth more than $3.7 million in grants
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58. What’s Next
Key focus areas for the TAC
> Working with road safety partners and Victorian Government to finalise the next long
term road safety strategy
> Achieving a 30 per cent reduction in the road toll
> Involving the community in our goal to reduce road trauma
> We are going to innovate and push new boundaries.
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59. Links
For more information
> www.youtube.com/tac
> www.tacsafety.com.au
> www.tac.vic.gov.au
> www.everybodyhurts.com.au
> www.picturesofyou.com.au
> www.mafmad.com.au
> www.vanessabus.com.au
> www.howsafeisyourcar.com.au
> www.spokes.com.au
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Notes de l'éditeur
Points to discuss: Introduction – My journey to becoming the Chief Executive Officer of the TAC. A lot to get through today and I’m really looking forward to the discussion. I want to explain the role of the TAC in detail. Who we are, what we do, and when it comes to public education, how we do it. There’s so many topics to get through so let’s get into it.
Retrospective – Before we start, let’s take a look at 20 years of TAC campaigns. On December 10th 1989 the first TAC commercial went to air. In that year the road toll was 776; by last year it had fallen to 287. A 3 minute retrospective of the campaigns produced by the TAC has been compiled. The montage features iconic scenes and images from commercials that have helped change the way we drive. This campaign is a chance to remember the many thousands of people who have been affected by road trauma and remind us all that for everyone's sake; please, drive safely.
To appreciate our role in accident prevention the role of the TAC needs to be understood. Put simply, prevention is critical to ensuring we have funds available to support injured people. As some of my colleagues say in this business “No Money No Mission!”
Points to discuss: TAC premium is automatically included as part of the registration of any vehicle in Victoria. This means that vehicle’s occupants can claim for medical support and benefits if they are in a crash. The TAC’s support includes ambulance transport and intensive care treatment, through to care as the person recovers from their injuries, or support to help them achieve independence throughout their lives.
The role of prevention is actually written into our legislation. This was a deliberate strategic decision – the predecessor to the TAC was effectively bankrupt, so the Parliament of the day agreed that without a focus on prevention the scheme would not be viable. This was never about winning awards or accolades – its about saving lives and preventing avoidable suffering.
This slide is a sobering reality check – I’m a CEO of a business and I want less clients. In one financial year alone, the TAC paid out over $930 million. I think this is somewhat a “hidden cost’ of road trauma – nearly $1 billion, and that doesn’t include lost productivity, emergency services, the long term emotional impacts. The TAC has no doubt that the cost of road trauma to the state of Victoria each year would be well over $4 billion.
In detail: cover ALL people injured in a transport accident on a no-fault basis caused by the driving of a motor car or motor vehicle, a railway train or tram (drivers, passengers, pedestrians etc) limited common law rights for pecuniary loss and pain and suffering for the seriously injured medical excess and mandatory police reporting to reduce “frivolous” claims *note figures are approx per annum We have divided our claims division into two distinct areas – independence and recovery . Independence staff look after our more seriously injured clients (moderate to severe ABI or permanent spinal cord injury) who require intense case management while our recovery teams are focussed on moderately injured clients and getting clients back to their normal lifestyle as soon as possible. Of the 600 new claims a year received by the Independence branch– 400 of them are Fatal claims and 200 Serious Injury. The Independence branch represents only 3 % of total TAC claims but 66 % of liabilities – and this is growing.
This graph shows you the size of the state we cover. Australia has a population of over 20 million, just a touch smaller than the 192 million who live in Brazil!.
In Victoria, we’ve got a proud tradition in leading the world in road safety. It’s also why conferences such as this are so important, so we can share ideas and get inspiration about what we can do next to push the boundaries.
Victoria’s road toll per 100,000 population in 2010 was 5.20, compared to: Sweden (2.85), UK (3.07) Japan (4.49) Canada (6.41) USA (10.65) Korea (11.26) ( Brazil is around 3 times worse than Australia at 19.9 deaths per 100,000) Other Australian states: - NSW and Qld 5.61 and 5.53 respectively SA and WA 7.18 and 8.43 respectively (more outback highways) NT 21.37 (many outback highways, mostly rural and desert) *Source: International Road Safety Comparisons 2010, Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (Australia)
The TAC’s road safety strategy is based on the Safe System approach. We believe you need Safer People in Safer Vehicles on Safer Roads, driving at Safer Speeds, to reduce the road toll.
Each plank of the strategy has many initiatives linked to it, with some examples here.
We do not work on this strategy alone, but with our key Victorian Government partners in Road Safety, each with a clear role, although we work closely together, on linked projects and programs. The TAC’s main role in road safety, is to develop public education programs to shift the community to safer road use attitudes and behaviours.
Research and insight is critical to the effectiveness of our public education. The TAC has an ongoing tracking study which helps us look at the effectiveness of every campaign we air. The TAC along with its partners in road safety, fund MUARC through the baseline program to conduct large scale reviews of the effectiveness of road safety programs.
The messages Educative – explain the issue and provide a rationale for change Enforcement related - support enforcement activity and provide an impetus for change Emotive – build the ‘moral’ case and provide an impetus for change Ultimately we want to engage people about road safety. What I’m going to show you today is that you can engage people in very different and interesting ways.
The TAC became involved in mass media road safety advertising in 1989. We launched a new series of television advertisements in December 1989 highlighting the tragic results of drink driving and introduced the now widely known tagline - drink drive, bloody idiot. This first advertisement, known as “Girlfriend”, set the agenda in the community, that there is a clear link between drink driving and road trauma. The phrase “bloody idiot” is used quite commonly by many people to this day.
Enforcement has formed a key part of the strategy to deter drink driving from the beginning of the TAC campaign. The TAC funded the purchase of booze buses for Victoria Police random breath test operations, and other equipment such as breath testers to streamline the detection of offenders. A significant aim of the TAC’s drink driving advertising strategy has been to emphasise the real likelihood of being caught after committing an offence and the severe penalties that will follow a conviction. In 1992, we moved from enforcement, to an emotive approach, with this advertisement, “Joey”.
Coming from Australia, the role that alcohol plays in our society is quite important to understand when we speak about road safety. The TAC has been campaigning since we started about making drinking driving socially unacceptable.
In the early 2000’s it was recognised that many people had ignored the clear dangers by mixing alcohol and driving and continue to drive with lower, but illegal, blood alcohol concentrations. They use the excuse that driving “only a little bit over .05” is OK. They ignore the fact that the risk of a crash increases many times over the further they exceed 0.05 limit. The impairment in skill is also further compounded by the fact that drink drivers are more likely to speed, less likely to wear a seatbelt and less likely to take steps to prevent fatigue. To combat this issue the TAC introduced the “Only a little bit over?” campaign in December 2003 with the key message “if you drink and drive over the BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) limit, you are breaking the law and endangering the lives of innocent passengers and other road users”.
In 1989, the year that the TAC commenced its campaigns, 114 drivers and riders died in road crashes with an illegal blood alcohol concentration. This figure had dropped to 42 in 2009.
Speed is one of the major factors contributing to accidents on Victoria's roads. Speeding reduces the time drivers have to avoid crashes, their ability to control the vehicle and lengthens stopping distances, increasing both the likelihood of crashing and the severity of the crash outcome. As we worked towards releasing our second ever advertisement in 1990, we focussed on speed as one of the biggest killers on our roads. The TAC has also worked closely with Victoria Police to target speeding motorists by funding the purchase of speed detection equipment, starting with the speed camera program alongside our 1990 advertisement. When the 54 mobile cameras (TAC funded) were introduced, at a cost of $4.5 million, the media campaign was developed to: inform the public of the technology available to combat speeding; inform people of the cameras' role in saving lives and avoiding serious injuries; and encourage people to adopt a more responsible attitude towards speed.
Many drivers believe that exceeding the speed limit by 5 to 10 km/h is still “safe”. This belief is not supported by the evidence from research. In fact, the evidence indicates that if Victorian drivers reduced their average speed by 5 km/h, some 95 lives could be saved and 1,300 serious injuries prevented in one year. It follows that if motorists can be convinced of this link, and change their behaviour, many crashes would be prevented.
Wipe Off 5 combines three phases: mass media advertising (television, radio and billboard) sponsorship, public relations and other marketing activities Police enforcement supported by publicity.
Slo Mo is still used today and is used extensively in schools based programs, e.g. Specific curriculum units have been developed to explore issues such as stopping distance and reaction time for Physics and Maths subjects. Driving instructors often use the ad to demonstrate the affect of low level speeding.
With the increase in speed camera hours more people received infringements and the issue of speed enforcement as revenue raising rather than a road safety measure received a lot of public debate. The third point on this slide is what we’re striving for – we want people to view speeding the same way they think of drink driving. This campaign shows the incredible value of emotion.
TAC tracking studies, conducted with the support of Sweeney Research, show that this campaign is having an impact. Once again I stress the importance of evaluation – everyone has an opinion in road safety, but the data tells the story. *Sweeney quarterly tracking survey, 2011
The TAC uses all media channels to get its message out to key target markets. Social media – particularly Facebook and Twitter are increasingly being used to get to talk to youth markets and address local issues. The Speedtown campaign is a good example of TAC’s use of new media.
We all know the power of social media!! This campaign is a good example of innovation. This campaign was light hearted, it was different, it involved taking a risk. It showed you can be engaging about the serious topic of road safety and you can connect with communities.
Despite a large reduction in Victoria's road toll since 1989, the 18 to 25 year age group remains vastly over-represented in road trauma statistics. In their first year of driving, young Victorians are almost four times more likely to be involved in a fatal or serious injury crash than more experienced drivers. A review of young drivers by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) found them to be at greater risk on the roads for a variety of reasons: lack of experience limited ability and judgement underestimation of risks deliberate risk-taking behaviours, and use of alcohol and drugs. As part of a co-ordinated effort to reduce the incidence, severity and cost to the community of road crashes involving young people, the TAC developed a youth strategy aimed at pre-drivers, learner drivers and probationary drivers. The strategy includes the programs and initiatives of the TAC's road safety partners: VicRoads, Victoria Police and the RACV. A Graduated Licensing System (GLS) has now been introduced in Victoria with new requirements for learner drivers, probationary license holders and young drivers aged up to 25.
The TAC’s Make a Film, Make a Difference (MAFMAD) competition calls on young filmmakers aged 25 and under to write a short film idea that will challenge young people’s attitudes to driving and looking out for their mates. The end results are short films about road safety issues made by young people, for young people. The films inspire young Victorians to think harder about their driving habits and to prevent senseless deaths on our roads. The competition is in its tenth year and so far 19 films have been made. When all ideas have been submitted, two winners are selected by a panel of expert judges. The winners receive $20,000 to help them make their film with the assistance of experienced film makers. They also receive a cash prize of $5000. When the films are ready, they are shown in cinemas across the country, on social media channels including You Tube, on television stations MTV and promoted on Facebook and Twitter. The films are also shown in the TAC’s youth party bus, Vanessa (more about that later), at music festivals, university open days and other youth events across the summer.
Ultimately the competition asks young people to create a film that will resonate with their peers. The current competition theme, “Party in the Car”, stems from our knowledge that when young people travel together, especially at night on their way out, the dynamics in the car were often similar to a party. Multiple passengers significantly increase the risk of an inexperienced driver crashing. They are a dangerous distraction, especially when alcohol-affected. Peer passengers can potentially encourage risk-taking behaviour – and the more passengers in a crash, the greater the chance of someone being killed or injured. MAFMAD empowers young people to make a difference and address this serious issue that places so many young lives at risk
Vanessa is the TAC's mobile cinema that promotes road safety to 18-25 year olds at events and festivals. Music festivals that young people need to drive to are a focus, particularly those held in regional areas. The converted booze bus was developed to provide the TAC with a conduit for delivering road safety messages to young people at high risk events. Designed to promote the winning films of the MAFMAD competition, the mobile cinema is much more than this.
It is also a chill out space, where event patrons can interact and engage with the TAC. Plasma screens inside and out provide the media channel for relevant road safety messaging. With the mobile cinema comes the Vanessa team, who can provide voluntary breath tests to patrons, as well as other event specific promotional activities.
Vanessa has a very active presence on line with www.facebook.com/ilikevanessa, running competitions, talking about coming events and festivals and engaging with young people in a fun way. The Facebook page is an extremely important tool for amplifying Vanessa’s reach and continuing pre and post event conversations, whilst disseminating road safety messages among young people.
Many vehicle models were ‘de-specified’ for the Australian market, meaning safety features were removed in order to reduce costs and it was difficult for consumers to buy vehicles with safety features that were standard in other vehicle markets.
Howsafeisyourcar.com.au is searchable and includes ANCAP crash testing data (Australian New Car Assessment Program) and Used Car Safety Ratings data. ANCAP testing is equivalent to crash testing by EuroNCAP. Also provides information about a range of safety features available on vehicles in the Australian market. Enables people to compare different vehicle types for safety. New and used cars
Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and curtain airbags are shown to be two of the most important safety features missing from many vehicles in Australia. (ESC research by MUARC) (Curtain airbags research by US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
Motorcyclists face higher risk on the roads as they are more vulnerable to injuries in a crash. Motorcyclists are over represented in road trauma data. Despite accounting for only 3% of registered vehicles and less than 1% of kilometres travelled in Victoria, motorcyclists represented over 16% of fatalities in 2011 and 13% of serious injuries in 2009/2010. Motorcycle injuries cost 4-5 times more than passenger vehicle injuries, because of the higher severity. Motorcyclists account for 20% of all TAC’s trauma related costs. Independent research conducted by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare indicates that riders are around 37 times more likely to be seriously injured than motorists.
Motorcycle campaign is supported by website dedicated to motorcycle safety: www.spokes.com.au. This provides data and information, and invites engagement from motorcyclists through seeking tips, running competitions and other activity. In 2011, 49 motorcyclists were fatally injured on our roads. In 31%, speed was the major contributing factor. 21% of all males killed on our roads last year were motorcyclists. Campaign Objectives: Reduce the number of speed-related fatal motorcycle rider and pillion incidents. Educate motorcycle riders and pillion passengers about the impact of speed-related road trauma on vulnerable road users - communicate that in the event of a collision at speed, the likelihood of a fatal injury is significant. Make riders aware that they can greatly reduce their chance of a crash by travelling within the posted speed limit. This campaign communicates the speed impact relationship for a motorcyclist. Underlying this is the importance of adhering to the speed limit to reduce the severity and impact of a crash, taking into consideration reaction time and stopping distance. This campaign is about educating riders on the physics of speed and that ultimately, you can not defeat the laws of physics no matter how experienced or skilled a rider you are.
As issues emerge and technology evolves the TAC has adapted, for example to drug driving testing and the distracting effects of technology such as mobile phones. But we have more than one approach to improving road safety . . . I’d like to talk about some of the work we do, that goes beyond the advertising campaigns.
The Safer Road Infrastructure Program (SRIP) aims to reduce the incidence and severity of crashes along roads with a relatively high number of serious casualty crashes. The current program, costing $650 million over 10 years, is funded by the TAC and commenced in 2007.
ISA Speeding and inappropriate travel speeds directly contribute to at least 30% of deaths on Victoria’s roads each year. Therefore, there are real benefits in vehicle drivers being alerted to changes in speed limits and encouraged to comply with these limits. One of the technologies available to advise drivers of the speed limit applicable to a section of the road is Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA). The TAC was the first organisation to bring Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) technology into Australia and is investigating its use as another tool to curb speeding on Victorian roads. TAC began investigating the safety benefits of ISA technology in 1999. ISA automatically warns a driver when they intentionally or inadvertently travel over the speed limit. Most systems establish the position of the vehicle on the road, and compares the current speed of the vehicle with the speed limit at that location. An “advisory system” issues warning audible and visual if the vehicle exceeds the limit, whilst an “active system” reduces the vehicles speed down to the speed limit. Results from the TAC SafeCar project have found that ISA technology is effective in reducing both peak and average speeds and in the percentage of time spent travelling above the speed limit. Trials of the technology have been very positive with most drivers finding the system useful. Seatbelt Interlock System , will not allow the car to start until seatbelts are fitted. Helping to address the 25% of people killed who are not wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident. A radar system that is sensitive to tailgating. It measures how close other cars in front of the vehicle and lets the driver know Drowsy Driver Detection , uses signals from the steering wheel movement to detect fatigue in the driver Lane departure warning, detects if the vehicle moves from the centre of the lane without indication – another fatigue warning sign
The TAC has worked with Victoria Police to specifically target the Enhanced Enforcement Program at key geographic and seasonal needs. The overall aim of the program is to make further improvements to the road toll. Why? Because bad driver behaviour must change, for there to be any significant drop in the road toll. The EEP has been running since 1995. It was previously open to traffic and general duties police to apply for support for specific operations. The EEP is focusses on: Seasonal: State-wide operations at holiday periods when more vehicles are on the roads. These are times of known increased trauma risk because of the increased amount of traffic on the roads. This includes Operation Aegis, running at Christmas, Easter and long weekends. Geographic: The majority of road trauma happens in a handful of priority Police Service Areas. The EEP supports police in these priority areas to undertake sustained, significant enforcement activity. It will be active, visible, repetitive and well publicised. The TAC and Victoria Police are working to reduce road trauma in these areas, which include Geelong, Melbourne, Casey, Dandenong, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Ranges. Local: Local police can apply for support to target high risk road user behaviour in their communities. By targeting the operations, we are targeting behavioural change at these key times and locations. Combining public education and enforcement has been successful in creating significant changes in driver behaviour.
The TAC creates strong community partnerships to ensure road safety messages reach our key target audiences at a grass roots level. Our key partnerships include: AFL (Australian Rules Football) Victoria – including the TAC Cup Under 18s football competition. The players in this competition undertake a road safety program as part of our partnership. Team representatives pictured on the left with myself and the Premier of Victoria, launching the 21 st year of the competition earlier this year. Melbourne Victory (One of the states’ soccer/football teams) – representatives pictured on the right with our signage behind (Wipe Off 5). Harry Kewell played with Victory last season which greatly enhanced the profile of football in Melbourne, which has strong competition with the popular Aussie Rules football. MotoGP Country Racing Victoria Geelong Football Club
Road safety education is optional in schools, although Year 10 Health has a focus on road safety ·The TAC works with the key Victorian education and road safety partners to develop ‘best practice’ education programs and resources. Early Childhood The TAC encourages early childhood settings and schools to implement traffic safety education programs. · VicRoads leads the early childhood space with its Starting Out Safely resource. The TAC complements this resource with the ThingleToodle series of television commercials aired during children’s television times. The TVCs focus on parent supervision, parent role modelling, safe road crossing procedure, child restraints and helmet use. School resources are based on road safety research and align with the Victorian school curriculum. · Resources are provided free of charge to all primary and secondary schools: o Kids on the move for primary school § Three books targeting whole of school activities; early primary focusing on pedestrian and passenger safety; and later primary focusing on transition to secondary school including cyclist safety, independent travel and bus safety § A VicRoads DVD for early primary school and their families providing advice on teaching road safety in real traffic situations § Promotes other resources to enrich learning, e.g. Bike Ed , RACV’s StreetScene, Metlink Adventures o Traffic Safety Essentials that targets pre-licence (Year 10) for secondary schools § Developed using behaviour change theory § Focuses on the key road safety issues for young people – e.g. inexperience, speed, impaired driving, distractions § Supports the Victorian Graduated Licensing System (GLS) § Promotes other resources and programs that link to the curriculum and GLS e.g. Fit to Drive (peer based education program targeting year 11 students), RACV’s Transmission , TAC’s online resources utlising Make a Film. Make a Difference short films and Muck up Day DVD · DEECD report that 99% of all schools have the resource · The TAC provides professional development to teachers to support the delivery of these curriculum based materials through its strong relationship with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (teachers are best placed to implement comprehensive, integrated road safety education) · Resources have a parent focus too, and research evidence shows that road safety experience should commence as early as possible and is the primary responsibility of parents/carers and family, with schools as the support · The most significant role model in a child’s life from birth to adulthood is their parents.
Crashes are a major cause of death and serious injury in our community and all road users have a responsibility for making our roads safer. Key Government organisations work together on a state-wide road safety strategy. These include the TAC, VicRoads, the Department of Justice and the Victoria Police, with support from other bodies such as the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the RACV. Local road safety issues are often best dealt with at a local level. Communities can have particular road safety needs and often local community groups can be well-placed to identify these specific problems and implement solutions. Community based road safety programs that integrate with Victoria's broader strategy are important in reducing road trauma. Some community-based organisations – such as RoadSafe (Community Road Safety Councils) and local councils – contribute strongly to road safety strategies and programs across the state.
What’s next is very simple.. We’re going to keep innovating until every journey is a safe one. And being part of this conference and meeting you all will help the TAC do this. On behalf of the TAC, I hope you found this interesting and I look forward to hosting many of you at our home in Geelong in the future! Thank you.