10,000 Facebook clicks sees a change in Speed

In a bid to reduce death and serious injury on regional and rural roads the Mallee township of Speed is leading an Australian-first road safety campaign which has seen them change their name to SpeedKills.

The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) is backing the campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of speed and engage Victorians from every corner of the state in an initiative that is running primarily online.

The “Rename Speed” campaign, via Naked Communications, Melbourne, centres around a Facebook page – backed by Twitter – featuring videos and photos of locals from the tiny town urging all Victorians to slow down.

Visitors to the Facebook page are encouraged to hit the “likes this” symbol because the town would only change their name if 10,000 likes were achieved – a target which was reached within a day.

When the 10,000th ‘like’ was recorded, the TAC donated $10,000 to the Speed Lions Club to distribute around the community in areas of need, such as the local hospital and school.

What next? 20,000 likes and Phil Down (one of Speed’s finest farmers) will change his name to Phil Slow Down. Stay tuned for what’s next.

The campaign is the first of its kind for the TAC which hopes to reach out to a slice of the 500 million active users of Facebook world-wide with the important road safety message.

TAC Acting CEO, Phil Reed, said reducing the incidence of speed is the focus for the TAC this year because about 30 per cent of all fatal crashes can be attributed to speed, costing Victoria in excess of 1 billion dollars: “As a community we have made drink driving the most socially unacceptable behavior, now it is time for speeding to be made just as unacceptable,” says Reed.

Rural and regional road deaths spiked last year – with 147 of the 291 fatalities occurring on roads outside of Melbourne – 16 more than in 2009 – and the people of Speed have thrown their support behind this important message.

Speed Lions Club President, Lionel Loxton, said his town was proud to be involved with the campaign: “We really need everyone to get onto our Facebook page and show their support,” says Loxton.

“By liking the campaign, you are showing us that you are behind our cause to reduce speeding on rural roads, and promising to us that you will stick to the speed limit. Speed Kills, and we hope our involvement in this campaign will further that message and really make a difference.”

VIDEOS:

1.  The town of Speed

2.  Gabby

3.  Like us on Facebook

4.  The Appeal TV ad

5.  The Slow Race

6.  The Appeal

Agency: Naked Communications, Melbourne

Director: Andrew Lancaster (Photoplay Films)