Road Safety Advisory Council of Tasmania unveils ‘Little distraction. Big impact.’ campaign via Cummins & Partners

Cummins & Partners has launched a new campaign for Road Safety Advisory Council of Tasmania highlighting one of the most underestimated dangers on Australian roads: everyday driver distraction.

The independent agency’s latest work, “Little distraction. Big impact.”, is built around a confronting insight: while most drivers understand distraction is dangerous, very few believe their own behaviour is part of the problem.

Instead of focusing on overtly reckless driving, the campaign reframes ordinary in-car moments such as checking notifications, adjusting the radio, eating, talking to passengers or mentally switching off on familiar roads as serious hazards capable of causing devastating consequences in seconds.

The campaign comes as distraction and inattention continue to be linked to around 15% of serious and fatal crashes in Tasmania.

Lily O’Connell, Senior Account Director at Cummins & Partners, said the campaign was designed to tackle a behavioural challenge many road safety campaigns struggle to overcome: “This campaign taps into a difficult truth: most drivers don’t see themselves as part of the distraction problem. Our challenge was to create something that could cut through that mindset and encourage genuine self-reflection, without relying on blame.”

Says Heath Collins, Creative Director, Cummins & Partners: “From a creative perspective, we wanted the danger to feel like it arrived out of nowhere, because that’s often how distraction works in real life. The work deliberately shifts from familiar and every day to tense and confronting in a split second, mirroring how quickly a momentary lapse can change everything.”

The campaign spans film, social and out-of-home, with a 30-second hero spot leading the rollout.

The agency believes distraction remains one of the hardest road safety issues to shift because most people associate dangerous driving with extreme behaviour, rather than the ordinary habits they engage in themselves every day.

The work also highlights a broader creative challenge increasingly facing behaviour change campaigns: how to make familiar, socially normalised behaviour feel urgent without alienating audiences.

Agency: cummins&partners
CCO: Sean Cummins
Creative Director: Heath Collins
Copywriter: Shannon Kruss
Art Director: Vivienne Johnston
Executive Producer: Steven Tortosa
Head of Strategy: Tim Collier
Senior Account Director: Lily O’Connell

Film Maker: Michael O’Neill
DOP: Tom Chapman

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