According to Road Trauma Australia’s 2022 statistics, there were approximately 1,194 deaths by road crash. That’s a lot of people and families that have been torn apart. These statistics prove how important it is to stay safe when on the road. Road Safety Campaigns in Australia focus on providing awareness and education when it comes to road safety management.

Road safety campaigns are purposeful attempts to inform, persuade, and motivate a population (or sub-group) to shift its attitudes and behaviours towards road safety. In order to improve road safety, road safety campaigns in Australia organised communications involving specific media channels within a given period. Road safety campaigns can target different aspects of road safety, such as speed management, seat belt use, pedestrian safety, drunk driving, distracted driving, etc.

What Are Road Safety Campaigns?

One of the main goals of road safety campaigns is to reduce the number of road traffic injuries and deaths, which are major public health and development issues worldwide. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), road traffic crashes result in the deaths of approximately 1.3 million people worldwide each year and leave between 20 and 50 million people with non-fatal injuries.

More than half of road traffic deaths and injuries involve vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and passengers. The young are particularly vulnerable on the world’s roads, and road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5–29.

Road safety campaigns can have different levels of effectiveness depending on various factors, such as the target audience, the message content and delivery, the media channels used, the duration and frequency of exposure, the evaluation methods, and the integration with other interventions (such as enforcement, education, engineering, etc.). Some examples of successful road safety campaigns are:

• The Fourth UN Global Road Safety Week in 2017 focused on speed management and promoted the tagline #SlowDown from the perspective of safe road users, vehicles, and roads. Thousands of people pledged to slow down worldwide, and thousands more organised #SlowDown Day events, which set political momentum for slower roads worldwide. The initiative urged to permanently slow down roads around schools and in neighbourhoods.
• The Caravane for Road Safety in 2011 was a journey through seven African countries that aimed to officially launch the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and to promote youth participation in road safety and preventing road crashes. The road safety ‘Caravane’ travelled through countries like Niger, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal, spreading a message of road safety among the youth. The Caravane claims to have reached over a million young people in Africa.
• The Embrace Life campaign in 2010 was a UK-based campaign that used an emotional appeal to encourage seat belt use. The campaign featured a video that showed a father being protected by his family members, who acted as seat belts in a simulated crash. The campaign received over 18 million views on YouTube and won several awards for its creativity and impact.
• Road safety campaigns are essential for raising awareness and changing behaviour among road users. However, they need to be carefully designed, implemented and evaluated to ensure they achieve their intended outcomes. Road safety campaigns should also be complemented by other measures that address the underlying causes of road traffic injuries and deaths.

Why Is Road Safety Campaign Important?

Road Safety campaigns include road safety advocacy and road safety education to educate people on the importance of being a safe driver and a responsible pedestrian.

Road safety campaigns are important because they can prevent road accidents, injuries and deaths. Road safety campaign refers to the efforts of various organisations and individuals to raise awareness and educate drivers, pedestrians and cyclists about road safety rules and best practices.

Some examples of road safety campaigns in Australia are promoting seat belt use, discouraging drunk driving, enforcing speed limits, installing traffic signs and signals, and encouraging road sharing and courtesy. Road safety campaigns can benefit everyone who uses the road by reducing the risk of collisions, improving traffic flow, saving lives and money, and creating a safer and more pleasant environment for travel.

There are so many more reasons why road safety campaigns are important, including:

• It helps to prevent accidents and injuries on the road. According to the World Health Organisation, more than 1.3 million people die every year in road traffic crashes, and millions more are injured or disabled. Road campaign safety can raise awareness of the risks and promote safe driving behaviours among drivers, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.
• It saves lives and reduces the social and economic costs of road crashes. Road traffic injuries are a significant public health and development issue, mainly affecting young and productive people and can cause long-term physical and psychological impairments. Road campaign safety can reduce human suffering and the burden on health systems, families and communities caused by road crashes.
• It contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Road campaign safety is linked to several of the SDGs, such as ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all (SDG 3), building resilient infrastructure and promoting sustainable transport (SDG 9), making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe and sustainable (SDG 11), and taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (SDG 13). Road campaign safety can support implementing these goals by improving road safety management, infrastructure, vehicles, behaviours and post-crash response.

Carmen’s Legacy: All About Road Safety Advocacy

Carmen’s Legacy by John Maher is a story about tragedy and hope. This novel shows that these road accidents aren’t merely statistics or numbers and figures on a table; they’re lives and people. Behind these numbers are stories of daughters, sons, fathers, brothers, sisters and loved ones lost due to road accidents.

These road safety campaigns in Australia aim to reduce these numbers and prevent any more loved ones from being taken away by tragedy. In a way, Carmen’s Legacy serves as a reminder, a road safety advocacy and a beacon of hope for people. Get your own copy at our website!