News

Hard Edge launches 2019 Re:act challenge for university students

Hard Edge has launched its 2019 Re:act challenge, this year addressing the road safety of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.

The Re:act challenge is run in collaboration with Swinburne University, inviting communication design students to create a behavioural change road safety campaign targeted at 18 to 25 year olds.

This year the competition will also include the University of Technology Sydney, with teams from both states pitching to a panel of representatives from government transport bodies and Hard Edge.

The topic of joint pedestrian, cyclist and driver safety was selected due to the need to communicate to young people that the safety of ourselves and others is a shared responsibility.

“By building empathy and understanding between different road user groups, we can shift the tribal ‘us vs. them’ mentality,” said Hard Edge managing director Andrew Hardwick. “By raising awareness, changing attitudes, and improving behaviours on our roads we can reduce the number of crashes involving vulnerable road users.

‘The challenge is to build a greater sense of shared responsibility so all road users understand the risks they pose to one another.”

The Re:act challenge started in 2016, addressing the topic of mobile phone use in vehicles. The challenge has also focused on driving the morning after drinking alcohol, and safer interactions between young drivers and trucks.

Liz Waller, partner of Re:act and road safety specialist from Transurban, said in a statement: “Re:act is a vital opportunity to engage with young people and provide them a meaningful way to make a difference to their peers and the broader community through addressing road safety issues.

“This year’s topic is very relevant to us as some of our major road and tunnel building projects are in locations where there are many vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Our road workers, who provide accident response and perform maintenance, are also vulnerable because their work is often on the side of the road.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella newsletter now.

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.