Christmas is the most dangerous time on Victorian roads. By the end of November 2013, 212 people had already lost their lives. We needed to remind Victorians to drive safely during the Christmas period.

We created an installation of all the gifts that would not be given to those who had already lost their lives on Victoria’s roads. Each gift was sprayed a ghostly white to highlight this overwhelming sense of loss. Behind each gift was a story of a life lost. People left written tributes at the installation, and thousands of messages encouraging one another to drive safely were shared online.

The installation was quick to gain media and PR attention, placed in the centre of Melbourne’s CBD during the peak of Christmas shopping. The live exhibition was broadcasted on national news stations, as well as radio. Several stories behind each of the gifts were published in the press, interviewing the family and friends of those who lost their lives in previous years. The physical installation encouraged people to share the story online via instagram, facebook and twitter, under the #ungivengifts hashtag. These images would later find their way onto hundreds of online blogs, continuing to spread the message of safe driving throughout the holiday season.

Reduce the road toll and injuries during the Christmas period. Encourage Victorians to consider their driving behaviour in light of their loved ones by emotionally connecting a gift to a life lost on Victorian roads. By asking people to leave written messages at the installation or posting a tribute online, road safety messages were coming from fellow Victorians, instigating a collective responsibility to take care of each other on the road.

Photos and messages from the installation were shared online to accumulate a total reach of 1.1 million people, spreading the message of safe driving on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and creativity blogs.

Traditional media and PR gave the campaign an additional reach of 2.4 million.

At the end of December, Victoria had it’s lowest road toll in 90 years.

The live exhibition was placed on the steps of the state library, being the centre of the CBD at the peak of Christmas shopping for a total of three days. It was broadcasted on national news stations, as well as radio. By spraying 212 gifts representing the road toll a ghostly white, we not only created a visually intriguing installation, but one that moved people to change their driving behaviour over the Christmas period. People added stories to the installation of loved ones lost, many of which were published online to stress the importance of driving safely. Sadly, four gifts were added to the plinths over the campaign period, a confronting reminder of how real this issue is at the most sentimental and equally dangerous time of the year.

Each year speeding and drink driving contributes to around 200 deaths, 1,700 serious injuries and 19,000 claims from those injured in crashes at a cost of around $1 billion. We needed to ask Victorians to drive safely during a time that contributes to the most road fatalities and injuries of the year.

Ask Victorians to consider what could be lost if they were to drive recklessly over the Christmas period. We did this by drawing on the emotional sentimentality associated with buying Christmas gifts for loved ones. Each of these gifts, sprayed a ghostly white, became a personal and heart wrenching reminder to protect each other on the road by driving safely, a truly powerful representation of the road toll. The gifts along with the installation encouraged people to post messages under the #ungivengifts hashtag to drive safely at Christmas.