New TAC campaign urges Victorians to spend Christmas wisely

Published date: 01 Dec 2020

Road safety meets a time-honoured Christmas tradition with the launch today of the Transport Accident Commission’s ‘Spend it Wisely’ advent calendar initiative.

The digital advent calendar provides 25 days of road safety tips, and offers and discounts to businesses throughout the holiday season, to help Victorians have an enjoyable and safe Christmas on and off the road.

The initiative was launched at Federation Square today, where a giant version of the digital calendar will be located until 25 December.

A host of businesses have come on board to contribute offers and discounts for each day of the advent calendar, including Sans Drinks, Village Cinemas and the Melbourne Museum.

The calendar encourages Victorians to Spend it Wisely in all forms – from spending money with businesses that have done it tough this year, to spending time on the roads safely to get home to their loved ones.

Minister for Road Safety Ben Carroll said Christmas was traditionally one of the busiest times on the state’s roads and this year is expected to be particularly busy with more people holidaying locally.

“Many Victorians won’t have driven long distances this year, particularly at high speed on unfamiliar roads, so it’s crucial for people to take extra care as they head off on their road trip,” he said.

“Motorists should allow plenty of time to get to their destination, take plenty of breaks, avoid driving when you would usually be sleeping, share the driving if possible and be patient.”

TAC CEO Joe Calafiore highlighted the fact that last year, 17 people died on Victorian roads from the start of December up to Christmas Day, and 21 people lost their lives for the month of December. 197 people have already died on our roads this year.

“We’ve all done a great job of looking out for each other this year and we want people to extend that care to their fellow road users and contribute to making every journey a safe journey this Christmas,” Mr Calafiore said.

“We all deserve to spend time with our loved ones this festive season, so we are pleading with Victorians to keep themselves, their families and other road users safe when they get on the road.”

Spend it Wisely ambassadors will also visit Bendigo, Shepparton, Traralgon, Ballarat and Geelong throughout December, providing advent calendars to regional Victorians.

Victorians can visit www.tac.vic.gov.au/spenditwisely to open the advent calendar’s window each day until Christmas and enjoy a range of giveaways and have the chance to win a staycation in Melbourne.