There’s an itch and a twitch, brought on by a game jam hackathon and it’s all driving a strong message for National Road Safety Week which will be marked 15-22 May.
What’s an Itch you ask? The website where you will find the road safety games budding computer game buffs are creating.
What’s a Twitch? The live stream platform which will be held on 14 May where the games will be played live, tested and judged to pick the winners across various categories for the best road safety games created.
The winners will be announced on 21 May with a showcase day of all the games online. Northern Territory Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Eva Lawler will give a key note speech.
Roadside Services and Solutions was the first sponsor to come on board for the first ever TrafficJAM game jam hackathon event held to mark National Road Safety Week.
Roadside Services Managing Director Craig Woods says Roadside is proud to be the sponsor of this event.
“It drives a strong message promoting road safety and it particularly focuses on driving the road safety message among 16-25 year olds who are the most at risk on the roads,” Craig Woods says.
At this year’s event, a full room of gamers gathered in the City of Palmerston in the Northern Territory and together with interstate participants and guests online, spent the day working on developing their award-winning computer games to enter in this year’s competition.
Gamers have a month to develop their best road safety computer game that promotes road safety initiatives.
From 14-year-olds to late 30s, this group of budding developers worked hard, leaning on each other’s experience to develop games for the TrafficJAM game jam hackathon.
Organisers say game development is going strong in the Northern Territory and across Australia.
Craig Woods says it’s amazing to see how the game development community has come together to promote the vital messages surrounding road safety.
The messages to be incorporated in this year’s computer games are:
- I pledge to drive as if my loved ones are on the road ahead.
- I will remove all distractions and never use my mobile phone while driving.
- I will not put other people at risk by speeding, driving while tired or under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- I will protect all vulnerable road users, especially those whose job places them in harm’s way, by slowing down and giving them the space they need to be safe.
About this event
Traffic injury is the biggest killer of Australian children under 15 and the second-biggest killer of all Australians aged between 15 and 24.
These numbers are growing every year but are preventable with the right education and awareness programs.
TrafficJAM is Australia’s first road safety week Game Jam. Developers are challenged to consider the themes of Road Safety Week and make a video game for others to play in one month.
A big shout out to Roadside partners in delivering safer roads, Trafficwerx NT for spearheading this great initiative.
Roadside is proud of the partners we choose to work with to ensure our cooperation and work creates a safer environment for everyone.
