In New Zealand we refer to the people who are killed in crashes as our 'road toll', as if their lives and limbs are the price we're all willing to pay to use our roads. The Road Toll is something we hear in the media during the holiday spikes of the year, almost like the weather forecast. We’ve become immune to it. We accept it.

This film aims to disrupt that mindset and launch Road To Zero - Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Authority's bold 30 year plan to reach zero deaths on NZ roads. Road to Zero is guided by the Safe System approach which remains the international gold standard in road safety.

The Road To Zero campaign will roll out to New Zealanders in three phases. Education about this approach will be critical in phases two and three. But this first TVC seeks to create a disruptive, step change in our attitude towards the road toll.

This film deliberately doesn’t show a crash or even a cause for the crash. This is because unlike most road safety ads that are typically about driver behaviour (anti-drinking, speeding, TXTing etc) the purpose of this film was make a broader statement; that the road toll is unacceptable. And it could happen to anyone, even so-called ‘good drivers’ who ‘wouldn’t make a mistake like that.’

Waka Kotahi New Zealand - Toll Booth

CREDITS

Gold partners