Vulnerable Roadway Users
Pedestrians Play it Safe
The Challenge
Utah's Highway Safety Office has a mission to keep bicyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and drivers safe on state roads. But with streets getting busier and accidents rising every year, they needed compelling new ways to promote road safety. They partnered with Boncom to extend their reach statewide, with the goal of saving as many lives as possible.
The Insight
We ran a survey and found that nearly all drivers will slow down if they see a pedestrian nearby. In other words, they already knew to watch and be careful. We needed to change the behavior of foot traffic instead. We swapped from scare tactics to empowerment, designing easy ways for pedestrians and cyclists to make themselves easier to see.
The Solution
Together with the Department of Public Safety, we created browser-based games for desktop and mobile, targeted at young men aged 18-35. Available in English and Spanish, the games let cyclists and pedestrians experience firsthand how visibility makes a difference. We shared the campaign across Utah through billboards, Meta, Google, TRAX and FrontRunner public transit, radio, and gas stations. We secured top placements thanks to our media buying team, making the dangers of low visibility as visible as possible.
The Outcome
Roughly 70% of players were young men, the message's target audience. The campaign exceeded 40 million impressions, drove 210,000 clicks, and earned an additional 2.7 million impressions at no extra cost. Most importantly, VRU has helped prevent hundreds of fatalities. More than impressions and clicks, this ongoing mission saves lives.
