TAC launches ‘Crossroads’ campaign warning drivers of holiday road risks

The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) has unveiled a new campaign, ‘Crossroads’, highlighting the dangers of drink driving and speeding during the busy holiday season.

The announcement:

The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) recently launched a striking new campaign – ‘Crossroads’ – warning motorists against making the wrong choice when getting behind the wheel, with a focus on the busy holiday season.

The campaign, created by Clemenger BBDO, FINCH, and Flint Studios, demonstrates the dangerous, and at times horrific, outcomes drivers may be faced with if they choose to do the wrong thing on our roads.

Holiday periods are busy on Victorian roads, meaning the risk of crashes is higher. Crossroads focuses on two of the major contributors to road trauma – drink driving, which contributes to around 20% of fatalities, and speed, which plays a role in around 30 per cent of road deaths in Victoria.

Launched across TV, VOD, OOH, Print, Social, and Audio the campaign aims to raise awareness of the heightened police presence during the festive season and to demonstrate the many methods they deploy to ensure we all get home safely to our loved ones.

TAC chief executive officer, Tracey Slatter, says:
“This impactful campaign is a reminder of how quickly drink-driving or speeding can turn a holiday into tragedy – and the role police play in ensuring we all make it to our destinations safely.”

Directed by Christopher Riggert, and working in close consultation with Victoria Police, Fire Rescue Victoria, Ambulance Victoria, and TAC crash experts, the campaign features two hero films where the driver is transported to an ominous point of decision.
In this ethereal world, we get a glimpse of the driver’s future self and the impact of their choices, not only on themselves, but also on their friends and family.

In film one, we see the devastating impact drinking then driving has on a father and his young family after heading home from a family barbecue. Down one road he is pulled over by a patrol car, down another he runs into a booze bus, and down the third we see the worse outcome possible.

In the second film, we see the results speeding can have on a young group of friends heading down the coast for the weekend. Down one road they face a police speed gun, down another they’ve been pulled over, and in the third the car is flipped with the driver and his friends hanging upside down, severely injured.

As the scenes play out, we see onlookers on the outskirts of frame casting judgement on the driver. A reminder that our decisions on the road don’t only impact those in the car and to think of those we hold dearest before making the choice to get behind the wheel.

Each scene features real world emergency services personnel, who were consulted to ensure the scenarios were representative of the harrowing scenes they’re often faced with on Victoria’s roads, typically as the first responders to bear witness to the outcomes.

Photographed by Andreas Smetana, the stills campaign reconstructs real-world crash scenarios with stark restraint. A devastating head-on collision caused by drink then driving and a vehicle flipped as a result of excessive speed are shown not in the moment of impact, but in the quiet aftermath – grounding the message in recognisable reality and allowing the weight of the decision to speak for itself.

Additional imagery was created by Guy Shield – evolving the iconic black and white world of TAC messaging to include coloured illustration.

The collaboration between agency, production, emergency services and technical crew was critical in navigating establishing these scenes and delivering imagery that feels grounded, believable and true to real-world first-response environments.

CREDITS

Client: TAC – Transport and Accident Commission
Executive General Manager Community: Jacqui Sampson
Senior Manager Marketing, Sponsorships & Engagement: Ange Hann
Strategic Marketing Lead: Philip Askew
Former Team Manager: Michael Knox
Campaign Manager: Katrina Nedeski
Marketing Coordinator: Emily Skinner
Road Safety: Samantha Buckis
Road Safety: James Plumridge
Road Safety: Dr. David Young
Monash Research: David Logan

Agency: Clemenger BBDO
Film Production: FINCH
Stills Production: Flint
Illustration Production: Jacky Winter

Emergency Services Personnel
A special thanks to all the Emergency Departments: Victorian Police, Fire and Ambulance

Source: Omnicom