History
Journey Beyond Road Trauma is an online social network for all those affected by road trauma. Behind every fatality and serious injury statistic, there are thousands of stories. This online sanctuary provides a space where people can tell their story, create compelling tributes, find support and understanding from the online community, and ultimately begin to heal.
Under the guidance of road safety experts, the community can channel their grief into positive action by collectively campaigning for road safety. The online space can also be used as an educational resource to complement already existing road safety campaigns. Journey Beyond Road Trauma has been created by Sandra Cook and Kerry Sunderland.
Sandra’s personal journey beyond road trauma began in Adelaide in 2004, when her father died in a car crash. A women driving in the opposite direction drove over a median strip and hit her father head on. He died eleven days later after never regaining consciousness. A key event in Sandra’s journey took place on 11 March 2005, when she started videoing her family as they struggled to come to terms with the legal process surrounding her father’s death. The Cook family’s story highlights the dangers of driving whilst under the influence of certain prescription medications. You can watch a trailer for the documentary here. Or read more of Sandra’s story here.
In 2008, Sandra teamed up with screen producer/writer Kerry Sunderland to develop a multi-platform project (that’s a project where elements appear simultaneously across a number of different media, like TV, the internet, radio and print) based on the Cook family’s story, and the thousands of others like it.
Kerry and Sandra were accepted into the Laboratory of Advanced Media Production (LAMP), a course run by the Australian Film and Television School (AFTRS). It was the best thing that could have happened to the project. For a week they were surrounded by smart, brilliant, funny and creative minds. Together they brainstormed and created this innovative project – one which everyone agreed clearly had the potential to meet the needs of many people affected by road trauma.
Sandra and Kerry spent 2008 researching and developing the project. They traveled around Australia meeting with road safety experts, community members and community organisations, and of course, looking for finance. The South Australian Film Corporation was the first film body to support the project.
Sandra and Kerry then established a company, Online Story Exchange Pty Ltd, to oversee the development and production of this project. At that same time Screen Australia provided a grant towards the production of stage one of the community.
In 2009, Sandra and Kerry joined forces with their IT team, an Adelaide-based web design company called Katalyst, and began to scope and build Journey Beyond Road Trauma.
Despite the downturn in the economy, Sandra and Kerry soon succeeded in bringing the Royal Automobile Association (RAA) to the project as sponsors. The RAA funding was used to make a series of seven “digital stories” in the form of short documentaries based on the experiences of South Australian road users. The stories are featured on this website. You can watch them here.
Sandra and Kerry also brought the AER (Alcohol, Education and Rehabilitation) Foundation on board. The AER Foundation grant will be used to create a national educational program that considers the dangers of driving on high levels of some prescription medication. It includes video footage and a teachers’ guide. This will be completed mid-2010.
Sandra and Kerry are still looking for corporate sponsors, donors and philanthropic groups to make financial contributions to build stage two of the site.
Journey Beyond Road Trauma is registered with the Documentary Australia Foundation, giving the project deductible gift recipient (DGR) status. This means that all grants to the project are tax-deductible, like a charity donation. Whether you represent a foundation, a corporation, a company, or you’re just one concerned individual, you can make a tax-deductible philanthropic donation to the Journey Beyond Road Trauma here.
