The dangers of speeding.
TAC is catching Australia’s deadliest predator in a road safety campaign via Thinkerbell.
The campaign uses physical installation, immersive audio, social video and radio.
“Australia’s Deadliest Predator is a bold initiative that compares speeding fatalities to deaths caused by dangerous wildlife, encouraging Australians to rethink what they fear the most,” said TAC head of community Jacqui Sampson.
“We are showing up differently to connect Victorians to the real dangers of speeding and challenge the relaxed mentality that ‘just a little bit over the limit’ is OK.
“ We are all in control of our behaviours on the road and have an absolute obligation to keep ourselves and others safe.”
The project comes to life as a large-scale public exhibit in Melbourne’s CBD that mimics a zoo enclosure. But instead of an animal, visitors encounter the wreckage of a car destroyed in a speed-related crash.
An accompanying audio experience, accessible on-site or via personal devices is available for listeners.
Between 2001 and 2021, six Australians died each year on average due to deadly animals.
By contrast, speeding has claimed more than 400 lives annually, totalling 4100 deaths in the past decade alone, according to the TAC.
Nearly 75% of Australians fear snakes, but only 11% believe driving 5 km/h over the limit is extremely dangerous.
“We wanted to hold a mirror up to the public’s irrational fears,” said Thinkerbell chief creative Tom Wenborn.
“People panic about snakes and sharks, yet shrug at doing 10km/ph over. From exhibit to earbud to screen, it’s a multi-sensory intervention against complacency.”
The Australia’s Deadliest Predator enclosure is open to the public from August 20-24 outside the Melbourne Museum.
”Humans are hardwired to fear dramatic, visible threats—like sharks, snakes, or crocodiles—because our brains evolved to react to immediate and vivid dangers,” said Thinkerbell chief thinker Adam Ferrier.
“But when it comes to everyday risks like speeding cars, we tend to underestimate the danger. This is a classic case of the availability heuristic: we worry about what’s most memorable, not what’s most likely.
“Behavioural science shows us that to shift behaviour, we need to make the invisible visible—so Australians can start seeing speeding not just as a statistic, but as the country’s deadliest predator.”
Credits
Creative agency: Thinkerbell
Client: TAC
Activation Production: Graffiti
Audio Production: Eardrum
Film Production: Thinkerbell
