Tailgating is a global problem, and in the UAE it is the major cause of road accidents and deaths and it's on the rise. Aggressive driving is a common occurrence on UAE roads. Dubai Police records show that in the last year, more than 43,200 accidents took place due to drivers not keeping a safe distance between vehicles. With over 30% involving taxis, the Roads and Transport Authority briefed us to come up with a solution.
We created a unique device that's activated when the taxi reaches 60kmph. Sensors mounted to the front and rear of the taxi measure the distance between the car in front and the car behind the taxi.
If the taxi breaches the 2 car lengths safety zone a message is delivered direct through the taxi's audio system warning the driver to slow down. If a car comes to close to the back of the taxi the device sends the message direct to the offending cars radio.
So far we have had over 416 million media impressions, it is the most talked about topic in the region in 2015 and for the first time in 4 years there has been a reduction in tailgating related accidents by 14.8%.
The Brief
The goal was simple. We needed to do more than just raise awareness around the dangers of tailgating; we wanted to drive a change in behavior before it was too late.
Execution
We created a unique device that is activated when the taxi reaches 60kmph. Sensors mounted to the front and rear of the taxi measure the distance between the car in front and the car behind the taxi.
If the taxi breaches the 2 car lengths safety zone a message is delivered direct through the taxi's audio system warning the driver to slow down. If a car comes to close to the back of the taxi the device sends the message direct to the offending cars radio. By partnering with the Arabian Radio Network we covered all major radio stations across 4 of the most spoken languages in the UAE. The campaign is running across the RTA's franchised taxi fleet. It is an ongoing campaign and plans are being worked on to broaden the use across public buses and school transport.
By literally disrupting our audience’s commute, we earned our way into taxi cab conversations, social media posts and major news sites, which resulted in 416 million media impressions.
The campaign not only raised awareness of the problem, it sparked a meaningful dialogue about an important issue and started to change the behavior of taxi drivers and motorists across the country.
Taxi driver tailgating incidents fell from an average of 264 to 62 per day, resulting in a 426% reduction in tailgating occurrences. Recorded public motorist tailgating incidents fell from an average of 58 per day to 16, resulting in a 363% reduction in tailgating occurrences. Back off radio has successfully delivered 32,440 warning messages to date. This has led to an overall reduction of tailgating related accidents of 14.8% in the first quarter of 2015.
The Strategy
The RTA's primary concerns are the safety of their driver's and the public on the roads of UAE.
As a result, we needed to target two clear audiences:
• The taxi drivers themselves
• Motorist's in general
Research from the Arabian Radio Network proved that radio was still the main source of entertainment for our audience with over 3 million listeners in the UAE every day.
Further, the Arabian Radio Network owns numerous different stations that are listened to by our diverse audiences. So by partnering with them we were able to deliver our message in the most relevant language.
Ultimately, we were able to communicate our message to offending taxi drivers as well as motorists at the exact time when it mattered most.