The story of a Victorian Central Highland family's loss is part of a confronting new campaign reminding drivers of the greater toll of road trauma.
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As part of the campaign, which opened at Bridge Mall on Wednesday, Ballarat woman Josie Postlethwaite tells the story of losing her brother Gareth Cozens to road trauma in 2010.
The Traffic Accident Commission and Road Trauma Support Services Victoria campaign, 'Left Unfinished', tells the story of seven Victorians whose lives were lost or permanently changed after road trauma and the items they left behind or unfinished.
Ms Postlethwaite's story is accompanied by a replica of Mr Cozens' Birchip-Watchem Football Club jumper, with his old number 19.
A promising country footballer with coaching aspirations, Mr Cozens was killed in a crash between Birchip and Beulah in 2010.
People visiting the exhibition can learn the emotional real-life stories behind the items on display, while a virtual augmented reality experience can be found online via a QR code.
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TAC head of road safety Samantha Cockfield said it was important to take the exhibition and Ms Postlethwaite's story about her brother to regional Victoria after its initial launch and housing at Melbourne Museum last year.
"Regional Victorians are overrepresented in the number of fatalities we see and, tragically, the majority of those deaths are local people on roads close to their home," she said.
"We're urging people in Ballarat to come and listen to and learn from these harrowing stories, which will serve as a reminder to all of us to never take life for granted when we get behind the wheel," she said.
Last year, 126 people died on regional Victorian roads, compared with 85 fatalities in metro areas.
In the Grampians region, 21 people lost their lives, including two in the City of Ballarat, two in Moorabool Shire, four in Hepburn Shire, two in Golden Plains Shire and one in Pyrenees Shire.
"Far too many people in Ballarat and regional Victoria have a 'left unfinished' story, and this poignant campaign lays bare seven very personal and emotional stories about how lives can change so dramatically when the unthinkable happens on the roads," Ms Cockfield said.
"It's so important that we continue to work together as a community to make our roads safer and strive for a future where we don't have families who have to tell stories like this."
After finishing in Ballarat on Sunday, the Left Unfinished exhibition's regional exhibition series will continue onto Geelong, Bendigo and Shepparton.