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A media specialist with almost three decades of experience has been recruited to drive home the message of road safety to South Australians.

A well-known figure within the industry, Jim Plouffe is a media executive who has had a 28-year career spanning Australia and South East Asia.

He will become the first chair of the Road Safety Committee – which will answer directly to the State Government.

The Committee will include experts from the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, SAPOL, the RAA, health experts, road safety researchers, and a road/regional transport authority.

Mr Plouffe’s role will consist of coordinating the road safety advice provided by the high-level experts of the Committee and implementing it through coherent media messaging, sponsorship and branding.

The Committee will be responsible for reviewing and providing advice on the prioritisation of measures to support road user education and behavioural influence programs; including community grant programs, sporting grants, research activities and advertising campaigns, including sponsorships.

Minister for Police, Correctional Services and Emergency Services Corey Wingard said he expected a new, harder approach to road safety messaging to be taken under Mr Plouffe’s lead.

“The messaging to South Australians must have an impact that actually changes driving behaviour,” Minister Wingard said.

“Just recalling an advertisement is not enough. For it to be effective it must resonate with a person who is inclined to take risks behind the wheel and then change their attitude towards such behaviour.”

The formulation of the Committee comes after the former Labor Government sold the Motor Accident Commission.

From July 1, the responsibility of road safety will fall under the responsibility of SAPOL and DPTI who are already at the forefront of road trauma and major crash investigations.

Mr Plouffe is a former Editor-in-Chief of Reader’s Digest in Asia based in Singapore.

He then took up an editorial position at The Advertiser and is now the Publishing Editor of The Lead South Australia, a news service run by Solstice Media.

Mr Plouffe is a Director of Surf Life Saving South Australia, a member of Cycling Australia’s Women’s Commission and has served on many sporting and community committees.

He is married and has three daughters.

“As the father of three daughters there is little else that keeps me awake at night other than road safety,” Mr Plouffe said.

“My two eldest daughters are on the road, and the youngest will soon be looking forward to her Ps.

“It’s not just the worry about them driving safely, but also being safe from other road users.”

“We often hear about the tragedy of young drivers dying on our roads but it is people my age who are most likely to be in a serious accident.

“This spread of ages, coupled with the different dangers between urban and regional roads, makes reaching everyone with the right message a true challenge.”

Mr Plouffe’s appointment comes amid a Marshall Government commitment to spend $1.1 billion upgrading regional roads in South Australia.

This funding is in addition to a $2.2 billion funding boost injected into regional roads by the Federal Government earlier this year.

The Marshall Government has also increased the road safety messaging spend by 15 per cent, in comparison with the same time period in the year before.