In short:
The TAC has launched the Cut, Colour, Click campaign, teaming with barbers and stylists to promote seatbelt safety. The initiative uses trusted local voices to reduce road trauma.
TAC campaign highlights worrying survey results
The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) is working with local stylists and barbers to encourage Victorians to talk about road safety as part of a new campaign.
The initiative, called Cut, Colour, Click, recruits popular barbers and stylists as ambassadors to promote the importance of wearing seatbelts. The ambassadors have been given resources to start conversations with their clients about buckling up, aiming to make safety messages part of everyday interactions.
TAC Head of Community, Jacqui Sampson, said conversations in barbershops and salons could help save lives.
“The TAC is always looking for new and innovative ways to engage with all corners of the community on the actions we can all take to keep ourselves and others safe – like wearing a seatbelt,” Ms Sampson said.
“Barbershops and salons are often local social hubs and a natural place where people are relaxed and receptive to important conversations and have trusted relationships – so we are proud to recruit these community champions as road safety ambassadors.”
The campaign comes as Victorian road deaths have reached their highest level for this time of year in a decade. In the past five years, about one-in-four drivers and passengers who died were not wearing a seatbelt when the status was known.
A TAC survey of 2,500 road users found 4.7% admitted to not wearing a seatbelt as a passenger in the past year – more than double the figure in 2020. Another 3% said they had driven without a seatbelt.
Ms Sampson said the findings showed the need for new ways to reinforce the seatbelt message.
“Our ambassadors have clients who feel relaxed around them and in their chairs, so through these conversations about road safety we aim to inspire Victorians to go out and talk to their family and their community,” she said.
The Cut, Colour, Click campaign has been translated into 10 languages to reach Victoria’s diverse communities. Campaign materials include barber smocks featuring a seatbelt sash and the tagline Seatbelts keep us together, as well as a digital content series and online educational resources.
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