A new exhibit has popped up in central Melbourne as part of a Transport Accident Commission (TAC) initiative aimed at changing relaxed attitudes to the deadly consequences of speeding.
Australia’s ‘Deadliest Predator’ takes a novel approach to highlight the vastly higher number of speeding-related fatalities in Australia, compared with deaths caused by commonly feared wildlife.
The TAC said speeding was the leading factor in around one third of fatalities in Victoria and nationally, claiming 400 lives across the country last year and 4,100 in the past decade. By comparison, according to the most current available data, there were an average of six deaths a year caused by sharks, crocodiles and snakes in Australia between 2001 and 2021.
Despite this disparity, a survey of more than 1,000 Australians conducted as part of the new TAC initiative, revealed that the majority of respondents perceive dangerous wildlife as more life-threatening than speeding.
The exhibit at the heart of the initiative, situated on the plaza between Melbourne Museum and the Royal Exhibition Centre, replicates a dangerous zoo animal enclosure to challenge common perceptions of danger, and urges visitors to reflect on their own driving behaviour.
Behind the enclosure’s is a reenactment of a car that has crashed after losing control due to traveling over the speed limit. Signage highlights the speed limit, and a digital display shows the vehicle’s speed at the time of the crash.
“Australia’s Deadliest Predator unapologetically calls out the social acceptance of speeding in a novel way, which we hope will encourage road users to slow down and stay within speed limits,” said TAC CEO Tracey Slatter.
“The data and research are clear – speed kills, and the only way we can prevent the tragic loss of life is to drive within the speed limit every time we use our roads.”
