The Media Road Safety Unit (MRSU) of South Australia Police today launches a new mass media advertising campaign aimed at drivers who think they can safely exceed the speed limit.
Running across TV, radio, billboards, buses, social media and digital platforms, the campaign taps into extensive attitudinal research with people who admit to exceeding the speed limit, exploring why they speed and what might convince them to stop.
Commissioner Grant Stevens says understanding the motivations and psychology behind road users’ behaviour is the key to creating campaigns that resonate and spark change.
“People know the rules,” Commissioner Stevens says. “The job of the Media Road Safety Unit is to understand why people choose to break the rules and to make them think about the consequences of that choice.”
“In developing this campaign, we partnered with research companies to conduct rigorous attitudinal research into how road users think and their reasons for engaging in dangerous behaviours.
“The campaign messaging addresses the finding that some drivers think they have the skills to drive above the speed limit which makes them a hazard to other innocent road users,” Commissioner Stevens said.
“The campaign reminds drivers of the vulnerability of all road users and that a crash can happen to anyone, when least expected.
“It highlights the shared responsibility of all road users to stick to the speed limit and reinforces the fact that their choices on the road have consequences for everyone.”
Road Safety Minister Vincent Tarzia said the new advertisement would make people re-evaluate their driving habits.
“This new campaign is graphic, confronting and highlights how speeding – even just a little bit over the limit – can cause irreversible damage or death,” Minister Tarzia said.
“Fatalities and serious injuries can be prevented if we all do our part to make South Australian roads a safer place. Heed the message and slow down this long weekend, the choice to do so could save your life or the lives of others.”
The campaign launch coincides with the beginning of Operation Safe Hills, which will run from 2 Oct 2020 to 26 April, 2021 and Operation High Impact Fatal 5 (1 Oct – 31 Oct 2020).
Commissioner Stevens says speed is a critical factor in every serious crash, and has been identified as a contributing factor in 30% of lives lost to date in 2020.
“The higher the speed, the harder the impact,” Commissioner Stevens said.
“If everybody stuck to the speed limit we would see an immediate reduction in casualty crashes.
“It is clear that there is a need to continue to promote speed compliance and educate the community on the benefits of lower speeds in reducing road trauma,” he said.
The new anti-speeding campaign will run in October 2020, March 2021 and June 2021, launching across TV, radio, billboards, social media and online platforms.
