This Artful and Frightening PSA Shows the Same Car Crash 7 Times at Worsening Speeds

Nobody wants to get into a car crash. But if you do, even a small difference in your speed can make a huge difference in the outcome.

A new Australian PSA cleverly and poignantly uses a series of escalating freeze frames to illustrate the range of effects that varying speeds can have on the same collision. And it emphasizes the importance of what a driver, despite the intrinsic unpredictability of roads, actually can control—how fast he or she is going.

A grey sedan at night finds itself about to hit a child on a bicycle. In the first version of the crash, when the driver is going at a safe speed, there's sufficient time to brake. The kid falls off the bike, but is presumably relatively unhurt. By the second crash, when the car is going faster, it swerves into a lamppost, and the kid is thrown a bit further.

Fast forward to the seventh and final scenario, and the driver has wrapped around the pole and the bicycle is fully airborne. The kid is nowhere to be seen—either because he was thrown entirely out of the frame, or simply because the outcome was too upsetting to show—its severity clear enough without being explicit.

"Every speed has a consequence," warns the onscreen copy.

Created by the Transport Accident Commission and agency Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for the state of Victoria, it's a clear and effective reminder that while roads always include lurking surprises, drivers can reduce the severity of that danger by exercising caution—and maintaining enough control to accommodate those surprises.

While that may seem obvious, and there's no shortage of other ads emphasizing the adverse outcomes of careless driving, it's probably worth noting that all evidence suggests people are still desperately in need of help remembering.

CREDITS

Client: TAC

Samantha Buckis – Acting Manager, Road Safety          

Paula Vigorelli – Manager, Marketing         

Agency: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

Creative Chairman: James McGrath         

Executive Creative Director: Ant Keogh                  

Creative Directors: Stephen de Wolf & Evan Roberts

Art Director: James Orr        

Copywriter: Elle Bullen         

Senior Planner: Matt Pearce        

Agency – Executive Producer – TV: Sonia von Bibra        

Senior Agency Producer TV: Lisa Moro         

Agency Producer – Print: Nicholas Short               

Agency Producer Digital: Maryne Muroni         

Paul McMillan – Managing Director        

Naomi Gorringe – Group Account Director        

Kate Joiner – Project Director        

Nicole Bishop – Account Executive   

Production Company: Finch        

Director: Christopher Riggert         

Producer: Kate Merrin        

Managing Director/EP: Corey Esse        

Production Designer: Lucinda Thomson         

DOP/Cinematographer: Lachlan Milne         

Editor: Johanna Scott – The Butchery                    

Sound Design Arranger: Paul Davies – PD Sound Design   

Music Track & Artist: Byron Scullin – Level Two Music    

Music Production Company – Level Two Music                         

Post Production Company – Offline – The Butchery

VFX: Blackbird