Rodney District Council, responsible for a region north of Auckland, New Zealand, commissioned a live action road safety message involving NZ Police, NZ Fire, St John’s Ambulance services and Downer EDI Works. Drivers on Matakana Rd, a very busy road marked by fatalities, were forced to slow down as they drove past what appeared to be a very serious head on road accident. Just after the accident scene a billboard flashed the message, “Is a crash the only thing that will make you slow down?”. The four hour event, staged on April 23, 2008, was filmed with a view to getting the message to a wider audience.
Click on the image below to play the Matakana Road Crash video.
Matakana Road Credits
The Matakana Road campaign was developed at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand, by executive creative director Mike O’Sullivan, creative John Koay, Luke Chess, Stephen de Wolf, account supervisor James Polhill, photographer George Passmore, cameraman Sean Rundle, and producer Alicia Williams.
Jacki Dawson, Rodney District Council road safety coordinator, says the Council wants to reduce the road toll and makes no apology for taking a tough stand.
“We are now in one of the most dangerous times of year, with slippery autumn conditions adding up to what is traditionally one of the worst periods for fatal and serious crashes,” she says.
“Everyone knows that if you continue to do the same things you’ll get the same results. We need to take radical action if we are going to change attitudes and behaviours. Crash 08 is designed to do precisely that,” she says.