North Sydney Council has decided to ‘knock out speeding’ on local roads with the help of a quirky new campaign featuring muscle-bound cartoon men. You can’t miss it. And the message? Slow Down!
Ever caught yourself going over the speed limit by mistake? Or maybe an unwelcome fine simply turned up in your mailbox, letting you know you’d broken the rules. Well, a new catchphrase and campaign from North Sydney Council is designed to empower and educate drivers so those mistakes stop happening – making the roads safer for everyone.
The message is simple (and catchy): “drop and give us fifty”!
With so many young people starting out on the roads, inclement weather causing unpredictable conditions and lots of little ones still learning about road safety, it’s the perfect way to get the message across that there’s strength in safety.
Did you know…
Nearly half of all crashes are in 50km zones in North Sydney, Lane Cove and Willoughby Local Government Areas (LGA). In North Sydney, this figure is 44 per cent* of all crashes.
Accidents with male drivers (between 2012 and 2016*) accounted for:
- 63% of casualities in North Sydney
- 61% in Lane Cove
- 60% in Willoughby
The three Councils have pooled resources to run the ads, but the broader message is for everyone. The default speed limit has been 50km/hour on local roads since 2003, but some drivers are still not slowing down.
Speed limits are for good reasons. Around 25 per cent of pedestrians would die if hit by a car travelling at 40km per hour, while 85 per cent would die if hit by a car driving at 60km, Transport for NSW research shows.
Driving at 50km per hour allows a driver time to react and avoid hitting a child, a vehicle emerging from a driveway or a dog on the road.
You can win an iPad Mini 4 by telling Council your thoughts on the advertisements. Enter the draw here.
* Traffic figures are from Roads and Maritime Services’ Centre for Road Safety
