For many years, car manufacturers have searched for ways to make their cars safer, adding more and more innovations each year. All of which has little to no impact on driver behaviour. But when it comes to road accidents globally, over 270,000 deaths each year are pedestrians. Pedestrian safety is a serious issue, particularly in the UAE where 20% of all road accidents involve pedestrians.

Volkswagen wanted to build their brand image by making the roads a safer place for both drivers and pedestrians, so what we needed was an idea that changed the approach to road safety entirely. We to decided to change the game and become the first automotive brand to think outside the car. We partnered with the local government to find a new and innovative way to make our roads a safer place for everyone that influenced people’s behaviour instead of changing the car itself.

We developed a unique structure with LED screens and RFID tag readers, which we placed at busy crossing directly outside GEMS school in May 2016.

Thousands of key chains with embedded RFID tags, were distributed to students. When a student approached the crossing, the sensors picked up the RFID tag’s signal and alerted any on-coming driver that a student was about to cross by displaying that student’s name and asking the driver to stop for them. The sensor then followed the student as they crossed beneath the Human Crossing so that drivers could clearly see the student’s name on the screen as they passed beneath it.

This simple piece of technology created an important human connection between the driver and the student. Enabling a positive behavioural change in drivers by reminding them that pedestrians are people too, each with their own name and story.

We developed a unique structure with LED screens and RFID tag readers, which we placed at busy crossing directly outside GEMS school in May 2016.

Thousands of key chains with embedded RFID tags, were distributed to students. When a student approached the crossing, the sensors picked up the RFID tag’s signal and alerted any on-coming driver that a student was about to cross by displaying that student’s name and asking the driver to stop for them. The sensor then followed the student as they crossed beneath the Human Crossing so that drivers could clearly see the student’s name on the screen as they passed beneath it.

This simple piece of technology created an important human connection between the driver and the student. Enabling a positive behavioural change in drivers by reminding them that pedestrians are people too, each with their own name and story.