‘We’re trying to talk to young drivers in a language they understand’: TABOO backs road safety platform comp for sixth year
The Transport Accident Commission’s (TAC) ‘Split Second’ competition, where young Victorian storytellers are given an opportunity to create road safety messaging, has opened for the sixth year in collaboration with indie creative agency, TABOO. This year sees a major expansion to the competition, which has a greater focus on reaching culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.
Developed in 2018 by TAC and TABOO, Split Second has been a long-standing youth road safety platform. It was created as a revamped version of the road safety department’s ‘Make a Film, Make a Difference’ competition which ran from 2003-2012.
“They came to us and said they wanted to reignite it, rebrand it, so we used Make a Film, Make a Difference as a foundation and developed Split Second,” James Mackinnon, TABOO’s managing director, told Mumbrella.
“Split Second comes down to the fact that everything really can change in a split second, we wanted to bring that out and it’s been received well since 2018.”
To date, the competition has had over 850 film concept submissions, produced six short films, and has helped kick start the careers of their creators – all while delivering powerful peer-to-peer road safety messaging.
This year it is taking a different approach, with a focus on CALD communities. The initiative aims to celebrate the diversity of young people across Victoria, foster fresh perspectives, and provide a platform and stepping-stone for diverse content creators and more inclusive storytelling.
As young drivers continue to be overrepresented in road trauma statistics, this year’s briefs focus on two key contributors – seatbelt usage and driving tired.
Fatigue accounts for 16% to 20% of fatal crashes involving young Victorians, while more than 130 drivers and passengers killed on Victorian roads in the last five years were not wearing a seatbelt.
“These are real issues,” said Samantha Cockfield, TAC’s executive general manager of road safety. “Most young people do know the road rules quite well, but presenting this key information is a way that’s really accessible will make all the difference.”
She explained how, although wearing a seatbelt has been law in Australia for over 50 years, it was important to touch on given this year’s focus on CALD communities.
“For most people, its an automated behaviour. But for some countries and cultures, it is not strictly enforced or law, so when people come to Australia, they’re not used to it. So this is a great opportunity to get in front of those people and give them this road safety messaging, and coming from a young person, they’re more likely to absorb it.”
Cockfield said encouraging young people on road safety can be difficult, but Split Second allows an opportunity for messaging that resonates more with the audience,
“We’re trying to talk to young drivers in a language they understand,” she told Mumbrella. “Little insights that young people have make all the difference, and to take it one step further, encouraging people from the CALD communities to take part in the competition will help the messaging resonate even more with all the nuances of different cultures.”
Last year’s winner, Sati Ocal, told Mumbrella it was a fantastic opportunity as she starts her career.
“After winning last year, the competition feels so ongoing, it keeps on giving,” she said.
“I’ve had a lot of people from the industry reach out to say congrats, or to offer internships at their advertising agencies, so it feels really cool to be on people’s radars.
“This industry is impenetrable, especially as a young person, so it can feel really scary. Things like Split Second are awesome for getting your foot in the door.”
Plus the messaging doesn’t come across as forced, and she agreed that its more digestible when created by young people, for young people.
“It feels so much more genuine,” she explained. “When I watch something that is made for me, and it’s so clear it’s been made by someone much older, I just immediately switch off because it almost comes across as cringey. But when its made by young people, you can tell straight away – we have such a unique, strange sense of humour that only other young people understand.”
This year, the platform’s visual identity has also had a refresh, developed by TABOO in collaboration with Think HQ’s multicultural communications division, CultureVerse.
Featuring bright, eye-catching colours and new animated characters, the campaign is designed to represent and reflect the wide breadth of age, gender, and diversity of aspiring creatives.
“We used this as an opportunity to rethink the Split Second look and feel,” Mackinnon explained. “With the focus on the CALD community, we wanted to make sure we spoke to everyone and central to that was making sure we have a visual identity that does so.
“Working with CultureVerse has been a really interesting process, it’s the first year we’ve done that.”
The competition is now open to Victorian content creators aged 18-30. Entrants are invited to submit a script, storyboard or video outlining their concept for a short film.
This year, there will be two winners – each will get their concept produced with a $35k budget, $5k cash and will get to work with TABOO and this year’s production partner TRUCE Films to bring their concepts to life.
It is open until November 24, 2024.
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