Driving zombies video credited with saving lives on SA roads
TEN years ago these zombie drivers shocked SA television viewers, but real drivers finally got the message to slow down.
TEN years ago this month, the Motor Accident Commission shocked TV audiences with a commercial depicting “creepers” — ordinary drivers who morphed into the driving dead.
The message was simple — speed and you are more likely to die on the road.
But now the commercial, pictured, and others in the ongoing anti-speeding campaign, are being credited with more than halving the number of speed-related fatal and serious injury crashes.
Creeping is defined as speeding by about 5km/h over the limit.
Experts at the time of the first commercial had identified that motorists were causing many crashes because one in three believed this was an acceptable speed.
Motor Accident Commission road safety manager Matt Hanton said since the confronting ad was launched in 2008, “creeping” had become a household term.
He said fatal and serious injury crashes when travelling over the speed limit had decreased in SA by 55 per cent over the past decade.
“Now just over one-quarter of fatal and serious injury crashes that were known to have occurred when a vehicle was travelling over the posted speed limit, happened when the vehicle was travelling at 10km/h or less over the limit,’’ he said.
“During research … more than a third of drivers believed driving 5km/h over the speed limit was acceptable but now 97 per cent of drivers disagree that it is safe to drive up to 10km/h above the limit in built-up areas.’’
The use of high-budget computer graphics to depict drivers who morphed from ordinary looking South Australians into dead people coincided with a rise in low-budget independent Hollywood zombie movies.
Mr Hanton said road safety messages did “wear out”, which had prompted the commission to move on to new campaigns.
“It was inevitable that creepers became familiar, and our most recent message ‘The Hairy Fairy’ is now also decreasing the significance of speed in crashes,’’ he said.
“But creepers is still one of MAC’s most recognised campaigns and was one that was really pushing boundaries and breaking conventions.
“It repositioned the brand of low-level speeding to have an impact on the community behaviour change and road trauma outcomes.
“While this is a positive result, for MAC there is still work to do.’’