Campaign background
In July 2002 the State Government announced phase one of its road safety package aimed at helping achieve the nationally agreed target of 5.6 fatalities per 100 000 population by the year 2010.

The Phase 1: Speed campaign was produced to ensure the community is aware of changes being introduced related to speed. The campaign focuses on communicating to the community the speeding regulatory elements that represent significant change and will impact on every road user. Enforcement of these new laws will also result in sanctions and penalties

Advertising objectives
The objectives of the campaign are to:
Provide factual and accurate information about speeding initiatives and penalties that will apply
Communicate the benefits of new initiatives and encourage positive cooperation
Inform the community of the strong relationship between speeding and crash risk and highlight that even small increases in speed can significantly increase the risk of crashing;
Heighten awareness in the community of speed enforcement and emphasise the risk of being detected when exceeding the speed limit
 
Image provided by South Australia Police
 

Target audience
The target audience for the campaign is:

Motorists
Heavy vehicle users
Motorcyclists
Vehicle passengers
Media strategies
The Phase 1: Speed Initiatives campaign used a combination of television, radio and billboard commercials. The campaign featured two television commercials:
Caught by Technology
The Caught by Technology television commercial is designed to communicate how technology is assisting police to detect speeding drivers. The advertisement demonstrates how speeding drivers incur demerit points when detected travelling at excess speeds (above the speed limit). It also warns drivers that all red light cameras are now speed cameras and shows images that remind drivers that technology focuses on every car to monitor the vehicle’s speed and the fact that technology is overtaking speed offenders.

Ramp
The ‘Ramp’ commercial focuses on the possible consequences of exceeding the road limit by as much as 10 or 20km. The beginning of the television commercial shows us a damaged vehicle about to be towed. The camera then zooms in on the ramp of the tow truck and then backs out again to reveal that the ramp is in actual fact for a young man in a wheelchair about to enter a private motor vehicle accompanied by his mother who is pushing him up the ramp. The commercial aims to communicate the dangers and potential consequences of speeding.

This campaign also includes a radio commercial, ‘Caught by Technology’. This commercial informs the community about new developments in road safety enforcement such as red light cameras doubling as speed cameras and the demerit points drivers incur for speeding offences. Billboards were also produced with the key communication message, ‘Technology is overtaking speeding drivers’.

Timing
Television advertising for the campaign commenced on 4 January 2004.