The archive · PR & Stunts · Marketing decision · 2022–2023
mycar invents 'R plates' for drivers returning to the road after trauma
mycar extends Australia's plate alphabet with 'return' plates, so road-trauma survivors are recognised, met with empathy, and QR-linked to support.
mycar Tyre & Auto
What it had to solve
Road trauma leaves many Australians afraid to get back behind the wheel, but nothing on the road tells other drivers why someone is hesitant — and nothing connects them to help. Car-care brand mycar wanted to highlight that previously unseen problem and help survivors drive again with more confidence.
How it works
Road trauma does not end when the crash does: many Australians who survive an incident are left afraid to drive again, and nothing on the road tells anyone else why. Car-care brand mycar wanted to highlight that unseen problem and help people return to driving with confidence.
Working with TBWA, with Eleven and FleishmanHillard credited as leads, mycar created R plates — 'return' plates that identify drivers coming back to the road after a traumatic incident. Where L and P plates tell other drivers who is learning, R plates tell them who is recovering, encouraging empathy instead of impatience.
Each plate also carries a QR code that connects the driver to psychological support, turning the symbol into an entry point for help. The broader campaign ignited a discussion about mental health on Australian roads, and D&AD preserves the initiative in its awards archive.
Why it lands
- The idea borrows a code every driver already reads, so the new R plate needs no explanation on the road.
- Making an invisible group visible turns other road users' empathy from a hope into a recognition cue.
- The QR code connects the awareness symbol to actual psychological support, so the plate does more than signal.
- mycar, a car-service brand, used its own category's object — the plate — to claim a mental-health role in road safety.
What it did
The plate gave an invisible group a symbol other drivers could read at a glance, and the campaign around it ignited a discussion about mental health on Australian roads. D&AD keeps the work in its awards archive.
What you can take
Extend a code everyone already reads: by adding R to the learner-plate alphabet, mycar made empathy for returning drivers a designed behaviour instead of a request.
Since then
The R-plate idea gave the return-to-road journey a public symbol other drivers could respond to, and the mental-health discussion it started became the campaign's lasting record. D&AD keeps the initiative in its awards archive as an example of turning a traffic convention into a social signal.
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