Stop and Rest Road Safety Mural

We were very excited to have artist Mel McVee and her sister Tash join us for a large scale paint by numbers activity. The Kalannie community co-designed the mural which features different elements around the theme of fatigue. Mel then drew the outline of the mural and everyone had a lot of fun helping to paint in all the different parts. It was a relaxing way to spend the day and an engaging way for the community to have an active role in artwork that will be displayed in the main street. As well as put their support behind raising road safety awareness. The mural was installed on the Telstra hut and over 2025 we also had the "No one plans a crash" crashed car display sitting with the message to stop and rest.

This message is one we hope to continue to advocate for with the mural being a part of the Kalannie Art Trail. Designed to get people to take a break from driving and view all the wonderful artwork on display.

Find more of Mel's work on her website https://www.melskiart.com/

Continuing with the subject of fatigue, we also had a presentation from guest speaker Abbey Turner who spoke about a car accident she had due to working long hours over harvest and how important it is to also wear a seatbelt. Even when driving around the farm. We also got to see pictures of the broken bones she sustained. As well as the half marathon she was able to complete, following a tough journey back to full health. Big thank you to Abbey Turner for sharing her story with us, you can watch it in the video below.

This mural painting event was made possible thanks to funding from the Road Safety Commission. Helping us to raise awareness about the importance of taking the time to stop and rest when driving long distances, to prevent fatigue related accidents.

This project was funded by