SAPOL road safety campaign Reality Hits Hard When You Drive on Drugs is set to become Tasmania’s first drug driving ad campaign.

The campaign was created by SA-based creative agency SAUCE, the same team behind SAPOL’s national award-winning Selfish Prick drink driving campaign.

“I think we’re all pretty proud of the fact that another state’s government and their road safety focus, I suppose, is excited about bringing [in] some creative,” SAUCE managing director Tom Ootes said.

“This stuff does save lives and that’s really important for us.”

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The Reality Hits Hard When You Drive on Drugs campaign seeks to force drug drivers to recognise behaviours they see in themselves and the consequences of their actions. Three separate ads were created for the campaign focused on cannabis, cocaine, and methamphetamine.

“We just need to show them that in reality, they’re not in control. In reality, there are big consequences, both short- and long-term,” Ootes said.

“In terms of the cocaine one, for a long time, cocaine hadn’t been able to be tested in the drug test swipes. That was changing, and we needed people to know that the reality is now you can’t get away with that.”

According to the Tasmanian Road Safety Advisory Council, 2,356 people were detected by police for drug driving in Tasmania in 2025.  Between 2021 and 2025, 39 people lost their lives, and 195 were seriously injured in crashes involving drug driving on Tasmanian roads.

“We’re reminding Tasmanians to think ahead and plan a safe way home that doesn’t involve driving,” Road Safety Advisory Council chair Scott Tilyard said.

Ootes said the news is proof of the quality of the creative work that comes out of SA and reflects on the efforts made by the thousands of people involved in the SA creative industry.

“I think that the quality of the work, the creative and the strategy that comes out of this city probably plays above our weight … so it’s nice to be known for this, to be able to tell people hey, look at this, this work that was done here is now being picked up by another government,” he said.

“Being a South Australian born and raised, you can always give yourself a little tap on the back to go well done; you’re representing the state in a bigger, wider community for the creative industry,” SAUCE creative director Michael Gagliardi said.

The ads will remain largely unchanged when played in Tasmania, besides modified driver’s licences and licence plates for geographical relevance.

The Selfish Prick drink driving campaign previously created by SAUCE was credited with dropping drink driving incidents by 35 per cent and delivering the lowest DUI rate in a decade in SA. It also achieved an 82 per cent campaign awareness rate.