I am deeply concerned about the kind of inappropriate, disgusting content that children are being exposed to in modern society. Children are increasingly being exposed to extreme violence and sex in our media and the internet, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, now they are even being exposed to horrific images of corpses in morgues, bloodied and mangled grey bodies under cloths, exceedingly brutal car crashes with blood, and potentially more highly inappropriate images all on local billboards along our roads across Australia, especially in South Australia. Some even go as far as to have strong coarse language—in one recently recorded case, there was an ad with the word “pr*ck” in it accompanied by images of corpses. These billboards are becoming increasingly common and are mainly displayed in rural areas alongside highways and other country roads, but can occasionally be spotted in urban areas as well. Even though these billboards do carry important messages, and we believe that people should sometimes learn the brutal consequences of putting themselves in danger on the road, they are, however, displayed in public places—especially during broad daylight—where they are seen by both adults and children, and contain images and language that no child should ever be exposed to.

Any adult with common sense would know that it is cruel to expose little, impressionable minds to any kind of gory imagery, especially in this already chaotic world we’re living in. As someone who was injured in a car accident myself and had to spend a day in hospital when I was 7 years old, if I had seen distasteful billboards like these back in the day soon afterwards, I would've become highly distressed, not to mention terrified, and they would've only worsened the trauma that I lived with for years after the accident as a result. Billboards like these can be harrowing and traumatic for our current generation, especially if they have lost a loved one in a car accident or became a casualty of one themselves like me. Not to mention they can also contribute to desensitising some of them to violence—negatively sparking their curiosity—and inappropriate words that should only be normalised in adulthood. These billboards are even dangerous for some adults as well! Some people pass out, have panic attacks, or feel very sick if they see blood (even if it’s fake), and potentially, if this were to happen someday while driving, then you can definitely imagine that these billboards would cause much more harm than good.

We understand that it’s important to help protect our community and increase awareness of the dangers of not following the rules of the road, but showing explicit images of blood, death, and corpses as a result of car accidents in public places is not the answer and should never become an accepted way of warning motorists of what not to do. You can still create effective, strong, unsettling, and hard-hitting road safety billboards without graphic imagery that are safe for children to see. There have been many examples of famous, classic road safety campaigns that show little or no blood and death—and also include no swearing—yet have still successfully conveyed their message across to Australians. Inappropriate and bloody road safety adverts should ONLY ever be shown:

1. During commercial breaks of television shows rated M15+ or MA15+ after 9:00pm

2. During commercial breaks on free streaming platforms of M15+, MA15+, or R18+ programs

3. In cinemas before M15+, MA15+, or R18+ films

4. At educational high school presentations catering for students 15+

5. On posters displayed in bathrooms in places where adults would generally hang out rather than children (i.e. gaming rooms at pubs / hotels, adult shops, or alcohol shops).

6. On internet websites that are for mature users, and websites where users can state that they're 15+ (i.e. YouTube)

7. As advertisements in mature-rated, free-to-play video games.

There have already been countless complaints from concerned parents sent to the Advertising Standards Board about the billboards with the corpse in the morgue and swearing, but said organisation—the only one with the power to remove them—continually refuses to take them down together with the other gory and inappropriate billboards for some reason, either implying that they are legal, or the Advertising Standards Board are simply lazy and failing us!

Let kids be kids and maintain their innocence, which is one of the most precious things in life. Please sign if you believe in creating a safer and more innocent world through the eyes of this current generation, where they shall no longer be exposed to macabre influences from advertisements and other forms of media again, until they are mature enough. Please sign to remove and ban unnecessarily inappropriate and gory "road safety" billboards from public places.

Thank you for your time.