10 Car Crash Survivors Pose For Photo Series Aimed To Raise Awareness About Seatbelt Safety

We’re all told growing up to wear our seat belts, but unfortunately some of us don’t always obey the rules of the road. Recently, the NZ Transport Agency – or NZTA for short – ran a campaign to raise awareness for seatbelt safety and the importance of always wearing one. NZTA teamed up with PROFX, a special effects make up company, to create a chilling photo series that shows car crash survivors posing with their injuries after accidents. NZTA has said that as many as 90 people die each year from injuries that could have easily been prevented if a seatbelt had been worn. Most of the victims seem to be young men from rural parts.

An emergency medical specialist, Dr. Natasha McKay, who helped out with the project said that seatbelts really do leave such marks behind after accidents. “They will save your life, but they will leave you a mark to show how they’ve done it,” she explained.

Billboards showing the realistic photos have begun appearing nationwide as organizers hope that the survivors’ stories will help emphasis the importance of wearing a seatbelt as it’s better to have a few bruises than lose something more precious.

Aided by the communications company Clemenger BBDO, NZTA is striving to change the misconception that a seatbelt is an optional inconvenience rather than an important necessity that can save lives. Rachel Prince, a spokeswoman for Clemenger BBDO, gave an interview with Designboom where she stated they’re trying to sell an unpopular item to these men. “Research told us they think seatbelt messages are for kids, for the elderly, for everyone else. We worked with them to make the undesirable something they wanted to buy.”

One of the men in the campaign, Willy Carberry, crashed his car into a power pole back in 2014. After he hit the pole, the car flipped onto its side. He only survived thanks to his seatbelt.

“F***ing put a seatbelt on,” Willy said. “It doesn’t matter how short the trip is. You never know who’s going to come out of the intersection and t-bone ya, or reverse out of a driveway, or an old lady going down the road, having a stroke,” he stressed during an interview with stuff.co.nz.