TAC invites Gen Z into the road safety convo with the launch of ‘Vanessa’s Place’ via TABOO

The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) has unveiled Vanessa’s Place – a road safety platform taking a fresh approach to engaging young road users.

Young people are over-represented in road fatalities, yet they remain one of the hardest groups to reach through traditional road safety messaging. The issue isn’t ignorance or apathy – young drivers do know the rules. The challenge is how, when, and whether those rules feel relevant to them in the moment.

Vanessa’s Place meets young Victorians where they are, without judgement.

Developed by the TAC in partnership with creative agency TABOO, Vanessa’s Place is a fully transportable weatherboard tiny home that blends behavioural insight with cultural understanding. The purpose-built home is comforting, nostalgic and inviting, the kind of place young people instinctively gravitate toward – where they can drop their guard and feel at home.

But once inside, the home reveals its real purpose.

Rather than delivering road safety as instruction, the house hides its authority in plain sight. The space is embedded with more than 200 road safety cues, reminders and behavioural nudges, each disguised as everyday objects. The messages focus on key youth risk areas – including drink and drug driving, distraction, speeding and fatigue – and are designed to be discovered, not imposed.

Inside Vanessa’s Place, toast arrives with the message “DRINK DRIVE YOU’RE TOAST” seared into the surface – literally digestible cues that draw crowds in. Bills, magnets and stealable kitchenware quietly reveal the real cost of breaking road rules. A ringing landline delivers a ‘message from Vanessa’, sending visitors on a playful journey through the house past reminders to organise a designated driver. Road safety facts and myth-busting prompts are woven into wallpaper, spice racks, mugs and vintage records. A cookbook acts as a secret lever, opening the fridge door and leading into a 90s lounge room.

Says TAC’s Head of Community, Hannah Meredith: “Choosing to be safe could mean planning a designated driver, organising a safe ride, separating drinking from driving, or making sure you’re rested before driving, all of which mean you and your mates get home sweet home.”

Vanessa’s Place has already established itself as a regular on the festival circuit, appearing at Beyond the Valley, Spilt Milk and Laneway Festival. Over the coming years, Vanessa’s Place will continue to travel across Victoria, appearing at festivals, gigs and cultural events where young people gather. The platform is supported by dedicated Instagram and TikTok channels, alongside an influencer program designed to extend the experience beyond the physical space.

By respecting young people’s intelligence and meeting them on their terms, Vanessa’s Place reframes road safety as something lived rather than lectured. It doesn’t interrupt youth culture – it contributes to it, quietly shifting attitudes and sparking conversations to help get Victoria’s youth home, sweet home.

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