The new signs in the tiny town call on drivers to slow down. (Victoria Transport Accident Commission)

A tiny Australian town is temporarily changing its name from Speed to Speedkills as part of a unique road safety campaign.

New road signs saying "Welcome to Speedkills: Previously Known as Speed" will greet visitors as they enter the town, which is home to just 45 residents.

The signs exhort drivers to "Please, Please, Please Slow Down."

Local farmer Phil Down said locals were enthusiastic about the name-changing road safety campaign, which was initially proposed by Victoria state's Transport Accident Commission.

"We've taken our quirky name and run with it to bring the attention to the campaign of trying to get people to slow down on country roads and especially through small towns," Down told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Maps still say 'Speed' but new signs call the tiny town about 400 kilometres northeast of Melbourne 'Speedkills' (CBC)

The campaign to increase awareness about the dangers associated with speeding and reduce rural road accidents was launched on Jan. 14.

The transport commission, which promotes road safety, suggested that if 10,000 Facebook users supported renaming Speed to Speedkills, the name change would go ahead and the commission would donate $10,000 to the local Lions Club.

More than 33,000 people gave the campaign the thumbs-up on Facebook, prompting the transport commission to move forward with the new name and double its donation to the local group, ABC said.

Down also got in on the bid to get drivers to put on the brakes — he agreed to temporarily change his name to Phil (Slow) Down.

Both the town and Phil Down will go back to their original names in a month.

With files from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation