Consumers are used to seeing road safety messages.

Heavy government investment above the line to drive awareness of road safety messaging is rife in New Zealand and while effective, it comes with diminishing returns. Rarely are the messages top of mind when you’re behind the wheel.

While this investment has people well educated around the perils on the road, poor decision making still results in large numbers of casualty or fatality.

We wanted to create something that truly elicited a direct response from drivers before they made a mistake.

The Volkswagen Reduce Speed Dial is a replacement panel for the speedometer in Volkswagens.

The speed dials follow all of the clarity and safety restrictions of a standard speedometer, but the dial is personally hand written by a loved one.

This simple, personal mnemonic was designed to remind drivers what they have to live for at the exact moment they consider speeding – and as a reminder of their loved ones even when they weren’t in the car with them.

An application for use at a dealership was developed and children were able to trace the numbers, choose colours and draw a personalized message for the driver. This information was mapped onto a Volkswagen Golf’s blank speedometer panel, inserted and calibrated.

We monitored driving habits before and after the installation, to understand if the personalized speed dial changed driver behaviour.

It did.

Following the installation of the personalised speed dial:

One family reduced their top speed by 19kmh from a max of 123km to a max of 104km, which is a 15% reduction.

One family did not break the speed limit after the installation of the personalised speed dial

Three out of the four drivers reduced their incidence of speeding in 100km zones by 50%

75% of the drivers’ did not exceed their maximum recorded speed from phase one.

Half of the drivers’ maximum speeds reduced.

Overall, all of the families reduced their speed in multiple driving situations.

- We are currently in discussions with the New Zealand Transport Association regarding elevating this idea into a broader pilot in NZ for scoping feasibility longer term.

- We’re developing a digital version for the arrival of digital speedometers.

- Its long-term application is currently being considered by Volkswagen for global implementation.

Its scalability and scope for widespread implementation is significant, and we’re excited by the possibilities this could present for future driver safety initiatives.

“The Reduce Speed Dial initiative has changed the way we look at car safety.”

Tom Ruddenklau, GM Volkswagen NZ.