The 22-minute video, entitled The Ripple Effect, came about after Clutha District Council road safety co-ordinator Rachel Harrison realised the huge impact fatal or serious crashes had both on those involved, and on the wider community.
Ms Harrison harnessed the help of the local body’s youth council and, two years later, the results are ready to air.
A sneak preview of the video for youth council members recently had been an emotional experience, she said.
"We showed it to the [youth] council so they could have a last look over, and there were heaps of tears, and a lot of pride at what we’ve achieved together.
"On Thursday, it will have its first formal airing at Balclutha’s new Riviera Cinema, which will be a private viewing for participants and their families, and for other stakeholders."
The video — in three parts — would then be made available to road safety educators and schools.
She believed the impact of the new film was particularly poignant as it featured recognisable local people whose lives had been impacted or touched by the tragedy of a crash.
"To highlight the issue we interviewed first responders, a serious crash unit officer, ICU staff, crash scene cleanup team members and a funeral director.
"We were also privileged to have the participation of the mum of a fatal crash victim speaking of the impacts of losing her daughter, Corie-Anne Solomon, in 2017.
"The film emphasises the fact that it is not just the victims of the crash that are affected, but a huge number of response crews, medical teams and the wider community, especially in a small area like Clutha."
It had been a steep learning curve in film-making for her and her helpers.
"We tried to do it all ourselves initially, but we were very lucky to secure the help of FYI Media, without whom we would have been a bit stuck filming and editing what turned out to be three hours of raw footage."
The collective effort would be worth it, if it prevented just one crash from occurring, she said.
"We hope to move people and make them think: ‘that’s just a line of paint in the middle of the road’.
"You have to be engaged and attentive at all times when driving, or it’s all too easy to drift across, and into disaster."
