‘Around trucks? Give them loads of room’ is one of numerous messages being rolled out on billboards across Queensland as part of a new campaign targeting dangerous driving.
A series of billboards have been designed to target speeding, fatigue, drink/drug driving, distraction, the importance of wearing seatbelts, checking for motorcyclists and avoiding distractions from mobile phones.
The campaign has been developed using crash data from specific high-risk locations.
“With today’s ever-expanding media channels, it is becoming harder to reach people with road safety messaging. Since all road users travel on the road, they are exposed to outdoor messaging like billboards,” said Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey.
“Research shows that people are more likely to modify their behaviour when confronted by messages while ‘in the moment’ of driving.”
The campaign was prompted by a spike in the number of lives lost on Queensland roads in recent years.
In 2022, 297 people lost their lives on Queensland roads, 20 more than the previous year and 17 per cent higher than the previous five-year average.
Almost every region in Queensland has experienced an increase in road deaths compared to previous years, with speeding, breaking road rules and drink driving all acknowledged as major contributors to road trauma throughout the state.
“This campaign uses creative approaches to get road safety messages out there, including on-road reminders and solutions, such as ‘Creeping up? Slow down’ and ‘Scrolling? Leave your phone alone’,” added Bailey.
“Other messaging has been localised, for example when asking Toowoomba locals to leave enough room between them and the vehicle in front, we suggest counting ‘one Toowoomba, two Toowoomba’ from the vehicle ahead of them. In some areas, we have used poor local road statistics to get the message across.
“Our strategically placed outdoor advertising will be an important reminder to motorists while they are in their vehicles, discouraging dangerous driving behaviors and preventing further avoidable trauma.”