A promotional event in Melbourne’s western region turned into a chaotic situation as drivers caused traffic jams around the area before police had to intervene.
RS Rewards, a company known for its unique promotions, had planned to give away $100,000 worth of fuel at the Liberty petrol station in Truganina on Good Friday starting at 10am. However, the event quickly spiraled out of control as vehicles lined up and blocked intersections, creating a major disruption in the local area.
The organizer, Billy Beasley, shared the excitement and chaos on his Instagram page, revealing that people started queuing for the free fuel as early as 4am. “There is a line that goes all the way around the block,” he said during the morning. “This is crazy. I didn’t expect this many people. We’re still two hours early and people have been here since 4am.”
Images captured by the Nine News helicopter showed hundreds of cars jammed at intersections and waiting down the road. Police were also seen managing the traffic, trying to maintain order amidst the madness.
Within an hour, Beasley announced that the operation had been shut down by the police. “I do apologise guys, we’ve been shut down by the police earlier than expected,” he said. “It is a shame, however we did manage to give away a lot of fuel.”
He explained that the event had caused too much chaos on the roads. “Unfortunately, it just caused way too much chaos on the roads. We didn’t expect it to be this crazy, we do apologise for anyone who got affected.”
Beasley revealed that he was inspired to create the giveaway after witnessing a shocking incident at a petrol pump. “In the time that it took for me to get from my petrol pump to get to the counter to pay for my fuel, someone ran over with a jerry can and filled up $15 worth of petrol using my hose, hoping that I just wouldn’t notice and I’d pay for his fuel as well,” he said.
“This just sort of gave me a real outlook on the situation and really understand how serious it is. I mean, if this is what people are doing, and we’re scamming each other at petrol stations now, if [prices] get any worse, it could start getting violent.”
Despite the chaos, Beasley mentioned that his team was still planning to take the giveaways across the country and weren’t disheartened by the day’s events. “It did get a little bit out of hand, and we’ve never done anything like this before, but this is just stuff that we’re going to take into the future,” he said.
He added that motorists had already taken advantage of $75,000 out of the planned $100,000, but after the police shut the gimmick down, his team handed out another $50,000 in fuel vouchers. “It’s really perked us all up, you know, thinking about what’s next for the future. It feels amazing.”
In a statement, police confirmed they attended the petrol station at 7.30am to “assist with traffic directions.” They noted that several hazards were created due to the increased traffic and engaged with the event organizers. “Organisers worked with police and established an alternative way to run the promotion, which is understood to be in the form of vouchers that can be used later.”
Police remained at the site throughout the day to manage “the risks associated with the increased traffic.”
One driver told Nine News that he had left home on a nearly empty tank, only to completely run out while waiting in line. “It doesn’t get any more desperate than this, man, especially with how gas prices are these days.”
