10,000 Clicks Will See a Change in Speed

14 Jan 2011

MEDIA RELEASE: 14 January 2011

In a bid to reduce death and serious injury on regional and rural roads the Mallee township of Speed is leading an Australian-first road safety campaign which will see them change their name to SpeedKills.

Launched today, the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) is backing the campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of speed and engage Victorians from every corner of the state in an initiative that will run primarily online.

The "Rename Speed" campaign centres around a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/speedkills) featuring videos and photos of locals from the tiny town urging all Victorians to slow down.

Visitors to the Facebook page are encouraged to hit the "likes this" symbol because the town will only change their name if 10,000 likes are achieved.

When the 10,000th 'like' is recorded, the TAC will donate $10,000 to the Speed Lions Club to distribute around the community in areas of need, such as the local hospital and school.

The campaign is the first of its kind for the TAC which hopes to reach out to a slice of the 500 million active users of Facebook world-wide with the important road safety message.

TAC Acting CEO, Phil Reed, said reducing the incidence of speed is the focus for the TAC this year because about 30 per cent of all fatal crashes can be attributed to speed, costing Victoria in excess of 1 billion dollars.

"As a community we have made drink driving the most socially unacceptable behavior, now it is time for speeding to be made just as unacceptable," Mr Reed said.

Rural and regional road deaths spiked last year � with 147 of the 291 fatalities occurring on roads outside of Melbourne � 16 more than in 2009 - and the people of Speed have thrown their support behind this important message.

Speed Lions Club President, Lionel Loxton, said his town was proud to be involved with the campaign.

"We really need everyone to get onto our Facebook page and show their support," Mr Loxton said.

"By liking the campaign, you are showing us that you are behind our cause to reduce speeding on rural roads, and promising to us that you will stick to the speed limit."

"Speed Kills, and we hope our involvement in this campaign will further that message and really make a difference."