An Australian town called Speed has been officially renamed as SpeedKills, in order to improve road safety.
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After a Facebook campaign that gained more than 30,000 supporters, the town’s residents are swapping their highway sign to promote safe driving. SpeedKills is about 250 miles outside the state capital, Melbourne.
The community of Speed has made the switch for a month, while local farmer Phil Down was also temporarily renamed Phil Slow Down on Friday at a ceremony.
“I’m happy to humiliate myself for that cause,” Down told AAP news agency. “I had no hesitation… mostly because we think the campaign is a good initiative.”
The official Australian Transport Commission says that about 32,000 people are killed or seriously injured each year on the sprawling country’s roads.
“We’re trying to get people to stay within the speed limits, obey road safety rules (and) realise that when they don’t, people die,” said Phil Reed, a spokesman for Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission.
Signs welcoming drivers to SpeedKills will be installed at the south and north ends of town for one month, along with extensive media coverage for the campaign.
