If you drink and drive, the consequences are in your hands

This hard-hitting campaign shows drink driving for what it really is, not a minor mistake, but a choice that can end in tragedy, lifelong injury, criminal charges, or the loss of work and independence. Across a series of dark and confrontational ads, ordinary moments like a picnic, a drink with friends, a backyard gathering, or Friday knock-offs are suddenly turned into scenes of trauma, guilt and irreversible consequences. The message is simple and direct: if you drink and drive, the consequences are in your hands.

The campaign does not rely on abstract warnings. Instead, it links drink driving to very real outcomes, including life-threatening head injuries, death, police charges, licence disqualification, job loss and lasting remorse. It also underlines the scale of the problem. In Queensland, crashes involving drink driving led to 816 hospitalised casualties in 2023, while drink driving was involved in over 20% of fatal crashes in Australia each year. At the enforcement level, more than 1.7 million random breath tests in 2023–2024 detected 14,528 drink driving offences.

What makes the campaign especially striking is the way it connects road safety with human cost. These ads are not just about breaking the law, they are about the moment when a casual decision becomes a life-changing event for drivers, passengers, families and friends. With the repeated line, “Drinking? Never drive,” the campaign leaves no room for ambiguity and reinforces a clear public health message that drink driving is never worth the risk.

Find more from Streetsmarts (Australia, 2026)

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