WHAT is an acceptable number of road deaths?
Narre Warren’s Francisco Cerros was asked that question last year when he fronted a TAC road safety advertisement.
His answer was 70.
At this point in the ad, which was part of the State Government’s Towards Zero campaign, 70 of Francisco’s friends and family walk around the corner and approach him.
With tears brimming in his eyes, Francisco changes his answer to “zero”.
“They told me it was going to be an in-house training video to be used for the TAC,” Francisco said of the experience.
“I thought it was just going to be a general question-and-answer type thing but then when they asked me what the road toll should be and I said ‘70’ and then they showed me what 70 people were and it was my family, I mean that was … that was emotional.
“When you see your family and you see their faces and you link that with the road toll it makes it very personal.”
Francisco is not an actor and he had no idea his family and friends were around the corner when he gave his unscripted response.
After the ad was shot, Francisco voiced his support for the Towards Zero campaign.
“Every accident on the road can be prevented,” he said.
“We as motorists, as drivers as pedestrians, we need to pay attention, be aware of what’s going on and zero should be what we should all be aiming for.”
Francisco’s wife, Charlene, said her family were “terrible with secrets” but had managed to keep it from him this time.
“It’s really hard keeping it from him ’cause he’s my husband, he’s my person, I tell him everything and this whole week I haven’t had that,” she said.
“Just the first time we walked around the corner as a practice, so he wasn’t even there, I was getting teary because the end was near. I could tell him everything.
“I knew he could get really emotional.
Or my main thought was I think he’s just going to be in shock because all of his family were there, and he understands how momentous that is.
“When you do personalise it, when you do think, hang on if you think 70 people is an alright number … yes it’s lower than what we have but when it’s your 70 people, it’s a massive difference.”
