New TAC initiative brings road safety to the salon chair

Published date: 11 Aug 2025

The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) has enlisted the support of local stylists and barbers to inspire Victorians to talk to their loved ones about staying safe on the roads, as part of a novel new initiative to reduce road trauma.

The TAC has teamed up with barber shops and salons across the state to pilot an initiative called Cut, Colour, Click, where popular stylists and barbers have become ambassadors for road safety in their communities – with a focus on the importance of wearing seatbelts.

As trusted local voices, these ambassadors are equipped with critical messages and supporting resources to start meaningful conversations with their clients on how buckling up on every journey can be the difference between life and death.

TAC Head of Community, Jacqui Sampson, said an everyday conversation in a salon chair was an opportunity to save a life, and the campaign would create community champions for a safety-first culture on the roads.

“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 initiative comes as the number of people killed on Victorian roads is at the highest level for this time of year in a decade. In the past five years, around one-in-four drivers and passengers who have died on the state’s roads were not wearing a seatbelt (where seatbelt status was known).

A recent TAC survey of more than 2500 road users found that while most people wore a seatbelt all the time, the minority that don’t was growing. It found that 4.7% of people admitted to not buckling up as a passenger in the past year – a proportion that has more than doubled since 2020 (2.2%).

The survey also found 3% of respondents had driven while not wearing a seatbelt – a slight increase on the previous year (2.7%).

Ms Sampson said the research findings reinforced the importance of finding new ways to educate people on the importance of wearing a seatbelt, like with the Cut, Colour, Click initiative.

“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.

“We need to come from all angles and have full community commitment if we are to turn around the unacceptable level of road trauma we are seeing – everyone needs to be a road safety hero.”

The Cut, Colour, Click campaign has been translated into 10 languages with tailored messaging to ensure it is highly visible in Victoria’s culturally and linguistically diverse communities, engaging with people whose home countries may have different or non-existent seatbelt laws. The campaign features barber smocks emblazoned with a seatbelt sash and campaign tagline ‘Seatbelts keep us together’ and a digital content series, while educational materials and fact sheets are available online.

To access and download conversation cards, factsheets, and educational materials, visit the website here.