New Vanessa bus makes her debut in Geelong

The Transport Accident Commission's (TAC) new two-storey 'Vanessa' bus has been officially unveiled in Geelong.

Geelong Deputy Mayor Stretch Kontelj and TAC Chief Executive Officer Janet Dore will cut the ribbon on the party bus before taking a tour inside.

Vanessa is taking a break from the festival circuit to show off her new and improved features, including a viewing deck on the second storey.

The bus has plasma screens inside and out, which screen the TAC's latest Make a Film, Make a Difference films. 

During festivals, visitors can pick up games and prizes from the bus or capture themselves at play in a photo booth.

Vanessa's predecessor, a converted booze bus, has taken a well-earned retirement after seven years on the road bringing the road safety message to young people and delivering advice, free water, coffee and breath tests.

Vanessa's visual content aims to engage and educate young road users about road safety as statistics show 18-25 year olds account for 24% of road fatalities.

Her image and the young staff who accompany her to events ensure a peer to peer communication of the road safety message, which has proven successful in reaching out to young people. 

Since 2005, the Vanessa fleet has grown to include one big bus, one Mercedes van (mini-Vanessa) and one new Ford Ranger Ute (Beaut Ute).  

To find out where else Vanessa and her mates are travelling this summer, go to the Vanessa Facebook page.  

Interesting stuff about Vanessa: 

• Vanessa and Mini Vanessa went to 57 events last year across Victoria
• Vanessa attended all the big music festivals such as Falls Festival and Big Day Out and large street festivals like St Kilda Festival and Brimbank Festival.
• We did approximately 24,000 breath tests in total for the year
• We had 10,000 people through Vanessa's Photo booth
• We have out 5,000 MAFMAD DVDs to promote the competition
• We engaged with close to one million people 
• The new Vanessa first appeared at Big Day Out this year and did 1500 breath tests
• Our Vanessa Facebook page is currently at 15,000 fans and we plan to hit 20,000 fans by the end of this season
• Due to demand we now have a Vanessa Fleet with three vehicles – Big Vanessa, Mini Vanessa (5 star Mercedes Vito) and Vanessa Bute (5 star Ford Ranger U Ute)