The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) is taking an unusual approach to tackling road safety by pairing up with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Regional Road Show as it tours the state between now and early July.
The partnership will see road safety take centre stage at 13 comedy shows.
With motorists four times more likely to die on regional roads, the TAC’s presence at the shows will encourage country Victorians to ‘stand up for road safety’.
TAC road safety manager Samantha Buckis said the road show would remind country drivers that they had a personal role to play in the state’s Towards Zero mission.
“Too many country people are killed on country roads so we really need to highlight the choices people can make to keep themselves and the people they care about safe,” Ms Buckis said.
“By partnering with the comedy road show we can drive community support and responsibility for the Towards Zero vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads,” she said.
Ms Buckis said it was critical that the TAC continued to find new ways to get country drivers thinking about road safety.
A team of TAC representatives will have a colourful presence at the events, helping audiences get home safely with free breath tests before they leave.
They will also help them understand how Victoria’s Towards Zero approach will bring down road trauma, with record investments in safe roads and ensuring Victorians are safer drivers and driving safer cars.
“Over the next three years regional Victorians will see safety barriers rolling out right across our country roads network as part of our effort to create a road network that will be more forgiving of mistakes that would have in the past been fatal,” Ms Buckis said.
“It’s also critical that country drivers understand the decisions they can make personally that will protect them when something unexpected happens, whether it’s driving the safest car they can afford or slowing down when the conditions are bad.”
