In the century of speed, crossing the street has become a matter of life and death. People have never been busier than today. So, to speed things up a bit, pedestrians choose shortcuts to arrive to their destination earlier. But in this great rush of ours, we usually forget that we are not the only ones on the roads. We choose the shorter way and we often forget to pay enough attention to the speeding vehicles around us. And that’s the perfect formula to fall victim to a nasty road accident.

In Canada, the month of October proved to be the worst for accidents involving pedestrians. Sadly, road traffic collisions kill hundreds of people each year and thousands end up injured. But this has to stop. Pedestrians need to adapt their behavior if they want to survive in this ‘traffic jungle’. And as they do not show the initiative to self-educate themselves, SAAQ (Quebec Automobile Insurance Corporation) has come up with a clever idea that might give pedestrians a good lesson about illegally crossing the street.

Together with lg2 agency, the corporation built a bus station that shelters the virtual version of people waiting for a bus. The interactive panel gives pedestrians a good chance to have fun, but also teaches them a memorable lesson. At the beginning of each experience, the protagonists are greeted by a digital self which copies all of their movements. But in just a few moments later the live animation shows what it’s really capable of.

“When certain issues become trivialized, as is the case with pedestrian’s respecting crosswalks, you need to find a way to get people’s attention and show them just what they’re risking,” explains Nicolas Boisvert, Creative Director at lg2, in a press release.

But it’s not only Canadians who have trouble with being in a hurry and risking their lives. It seems like people all over the world are in a constant rush. For example, thousands of European pedestrians also get distracted when crossing the road. In Paris, more than 4,500 people get injured in car accidents each year. It comes as no surprise that DRIEA (French road safety authority) came up with a similar idea as SAAQ that actually brought impressive results.

By joining forces with Serviceplan France, the authority developed a clever billboard that imitates danger and alerts pedestrians that they are not the only ones in the streets. The concept had tremendous success: it stormed the internet and gathered 6 million organic views on social and mass media. Also, the French execution collected 18 million impressions and over 250,000 social media interactions. But most importantly, it was received with open arms by the French Government, which decided to support this initiative.

But now, it is up to you: which player did it better? Is it SAAQ or DRIES? Or are both projects equally good? If so, will the one made by the Québec-based agency reach similar success? Tell us your thoughts by sharing them in the comment section below!

Credits:

Client: SAAQ (Quebec Automobile Insurance Corporation)

Agency: lg2

Creative Director / Art Director: Luc Du Sault

Creatives: Nicolas Boisvert, Camille Gagnon

Production Company: BLVD / Montréal

Director: Olivier Labonté Lemoyne

Account Directors: Alexandra Laverdière, Camille Savard