The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) is the statutory insurer of third-party personal liability (CTP insurance in other states) for road accidents in the State of Victoria, Australia. It was established under the Transport Accident Act 1986.
Its purpose is to fund treatment and support services for people injured in transport accidents. The TAC's support covers medical and non-medical expenses incurred as a result of an accident, for example income support for people whose injuries prevent them from performing normal job duties, or return to work programs, and equipment or aids, such as wheelchairs or crutches that are recommended by a healthcare professional. Funding used by the TAC to perform these functions comes from compulsory payments made by Victorian motorists when they register their vehicles each year with VicRoads.
The TAC also has a duty to help reduce accidents on Victorian roads. It is responsible for the majority of road safety advertising in the state.
The TAC is known for its powerful road safety public education campaigns which emphasize the personal costs of dangerous driving practices (such as speeding and drunk driving) using emotive, educational and enforcement based themes.
In 1989 the increasing cost of accidents caused VicRoads and the TAC to adopt a new approach including:
For its part, the TAC funds television and billboards coupled with high-impact advertising.
The TAC's most well known slogan is If you drink, then drive, you're a bloody idiot, which was introduced in 1989. This slogan has become a catchphrase in Australia, and has even been used in other countries (including Canada and New Zealand). In recent times, this has been replaced with Only a little bit over? You bloody idiot to reflect the danger of low-level drink-driving.
Another well known slogan is Don't fool yourself, speed kills which was introduced in 1994. This has also been modified in recent years to reflect low-level speeding to Wipe off 5.
Other recognised TAC slogans from the 1990s include Belt up, or suffer the pain, Take a break, fatigue kills, It's in your hands, concentrate or kill, and Country people die on country roads.
A recent safety campaign drew attention to life-saving in-car technologies, such as Electronic Stability Control and curtain airbags. The aim of this campaign was to encourage car buyers to ask for these important safety features when purchasing their next car (the TAC has set up a website to promote this, www.howsafeisyourcar.com.au). The Victorian Government has mandated this as a future design requirement.