A cheeky safety campaign is urging all visitors to the East Coast to enjoy themselves and take it slow.
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With a tourism boom expected across the Great Eastern Drive this week thanks to triple j’s One Night Stand, the Break O’Day Council and East Coast Regional Tourism teamed up to ensure everyone gets to the event and back home safely.
East Coast Tourism chief executive Ruth Dowty said keeping everyone safe on the region’s roads was a key issue.
“We want them to think about getting there safely and enjoying the journey, and not just racing to get there,” she said.
“The idea we’ve come up with is to have a bit of fun to get people to think a little bit about the fact that it is a lovely journey, and that we will be waiting for them there at the other end along with Vance Joy, Peking Duk, and all the others.”
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The campaign will involve hard-to-miss bright orange signs installed on every township sign on the Great Eastern Drive.
Each sign will have a raunchy saying on it urging concert-goers to take their time and enjoy the ride, and will be visible for those driving from Launceston or Hobart.
Break O’Day mayor Mick Tucker said keeping people safe on the region’s windy roads was a key project for the council.
“Young people tend to be over-represented in road accidents so we started thinking about ways that we could make our road safety messages fun and interesting to this age group,” he said.
“The concept is based on a One Night Stand, and things that lovers may say to each other to get each other to slow down.”
Councillor Tucker said there were a few variations of the signs, meaning visitors will have to keep their eyes peeled and slow to down to see all of them.
“Some people may find these signs a bit risque but at the end of the day it’s all about getting people to slow down and be safe on our roads,” he said.
“We're really proud of this campaign as we think it sends a cheeky, but clear message and we hope that people take them for what they are – a sassy way of getting people to think about slowing down.”
Alongside Vance Joy, Peking Duk, Tkay Maidza, Alex the Astronaut, and The Sleepyheads, a few special guests will be coming along for the ride.
Julia Jacklin, Luca Brasi’s Tyler Richardson, Cloud Control’s Alister Wright, Ball Park Music’s Sam Cromack, Ruby Fields, SAFIA’s Ben Woolner, Kwame, Arno Faraji, Jesswar, and Carmouflage Rose will appear at the concert as special guests.