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The Dark Side: Safety truck gets serious

The ATA lifted the lid on a major upcoming Safety Truck redesign, setting its sights firmly on young motorists

 

The truck dedicated to educating the public on sharing the road safely with trucks has taken a dark turn, shedding its green colour and animations for a more impactful look.

The Volvo ATA Safety Truck has been delivering safety exhibitions via the custom-built trailer since 2008, travelling 60,000km and reaching 33,000 people annually via truck shows, festivals and school visits. 

It’s hoped the new colour scheme will resonate more strongly with the youth demographic it’s targeted at.

“The previous Safety Truck design had been connecting with audiences since 2013,” ATA chair Geoff Crouch says.  

“The new campaign will specifically target 16- to 25-year-old drivers and vulnerable road users, as they’re the ones who are over-represented in crash statistics.

“We will use an attractive, evidence-based exhibition and campaign to engage these drivers, riders and pedestrians.

“Extensive research has shown the truck’s neon colours and cartoon graphics aren’t the right approach for this target audience, so we decided it was time for a change.”

The redesign process began in September, when the ATA engaged creative agency Hard Edge to take on the project.

The same agency helped run the Re:act program, a collaboration involving Swinburne University, showing how truck safety awareness had successfully changed the attitudes and behaviours of young people around trucks.


Young drivers reveal attitude shift around trucks in ATA-supported program. Read more, here


Supported by Volvo, BP and NTI, the interim wrap was sponsored by 3M, which features conspicuity tape markings in accordance with the ATA’s truck visibility technical advisory procedure.

The wrap was applied by Rice Graphic Images in Wodonga.

“The interim wrap opens the conversation that the Safety Truck is changing and brings our stakeholders and the wider community on the journey with us,” Crouch says.

“The Safety Truck is still travelling around the country to visit schools and industry events. We want people to see the interim wrap and get excited.”

The truck will feature at this week’s ATA Technology and Maintenance Conference, held this week at the Docklands in Melbourne.

 The Safety Truck before and after
The Safety Truck before and after

 

 

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