The inflatable blue and red gift was positioned on the Civic Green as part of the Transport Accident Commission’s (TAC) awareness campaign ahead of the festive season.

Organisers used the maxim of preferring the “presence of family and friends rather than presents” to raise awareness over holiday road fatalities. Sixteen people have died on south-west roads this year, up from the nine deaths that occurred to the same time last year.

TAC program organiser Campbell Baxter said the touring inflatable present had attracted interest from passers-by along Liebig Street yesterday.

“We’ve been at Southern Cross station, at Traralgon and at Bendigo and the reception has been great,” he said. “It’s the first year we’ve done something like this and we’re always trying to find new ways to get across the message of road safety at Christmas.”

The inflatable attraction was based at the Civic Green all of yesterday afternoon until packing up ahead of last night’s carols ceremony.

Activities at the giant present included wrapping up participants in gaudy gift costumes and writing Christmas cards to friends and family.

Acting Senior Sergeant Sean Halley, from the Warrnambool highway patrol, said the road safety message had to be reinforced ahead of Christmas.

“There’s already plenty of traffic around the region at the moment with people going shopping or going to parties and work functions,” he said. “As we know, that increases from Boxing Day onwards as the tourists flock here. 

“The message is that people should be fully aware of the risks of drinking and driving, the risks of excessive speed, because unfortunately we see incidents every season.”