Reuters

A welcome sign to the town of Speed, 250 miles northwest of Melbourne, is seen in this undated photo obtained Feb. 18.

Transportation Accident Commision via Reuters

The Victorian TAC provided this handout illustration promoting the campaign to rename the town of Speed. According to local media, a Facebook campaign by a government authority to promote road safety helped change the name of the town from Speed to SpeedKills.

A small town in the Australian Outback has decided to change its name in an attempt to persuade drivers to slow down.

The town formerly known as Speed will be known as SpeedKills for a period of one month.

"Speeding through Speed is probably something that some people think is a great idea but we don't think so. People are a bit tired and think, well, nobody lives here, it is just a small town, but we live here," a local said in a video posted on Facebook.

The BBC reports that Australian road safety officials have identified five towns in the United States called Speed which they hope will follow suit.