The following article was taken from the Media Release: Re:act returns, with a focus on fatigue among young drivers.
Following its ground breaking success in 2020, the Re:act road safety behaviour change program returns in 2021 to tackle a key road safety risk for young drivers: fatigue.
The 2021 program launched today at Swinburne University in Melbourne. It will also run at Curtin University in Perth later this month, University of Technology in Sydney in April, and Queensland University of Technology later in the year. The Re:act 2021 program is already underway overseas, through University of the Arts London.
Now in its sixth year, Re:act challenges local university students to create a campaign that raises awareness among 18-25 year old road users of a critical road safety issue. In 2021, it will also expand into the TAFE sector as part of graphic design courses for TAFE students around Australia.
Selected student campaigns from each university will be developed with Hard Edge and oOh!media for public execution via oOh!media’s extensive network including roadside billboards, retail, street furniture and university campus screens.
Re:act founder Andrew Hardwick said although fatigue was a safety issue for all road users, it was chosen as the 2021 Re:act topic because younger drivers are much more likely to report driving while fatigued.
“The 2021 Re:act program will build on last year’s unprecedented results, where the commitment of students and universities, program partners and media partner oOh!media resulted in more than 5 million Australians seeing road safety campaigns produced by participating students,” Andrew said.
“Judging by the quality of the road safety messaging in previous years, we can once again look forward to creative and innovative thinking from Re:act students to drive awareness and behaviour change around another important road safety issue for young road users.”
Noel Cook, oOh!media Chief Commercial & Operations Officer, added: “Out of Home is a very powerful medium for delivering important public safety messages, which is why we’re pleased to be partnering with Re:act once again to help young drivers stay alert and healthy on our roads.
“The Re:act program reflects our commitment to road safety and is a great catalyst for behaviour change. It also supports the next generation of designers and marketers as they learn about the extensive reach of outdoor advertising, as well as the social and commercial benefits it delivers.”
Visit reactforchange.com to learn more about the Re:act program.
An initiative of Hard Edge, the annual Re:act program challenges local tertiary students to create a behaviour change campaign that raises awareness among 18-25 year old road users of a critical road safety issue where they are overrepresented.
A panel of tertiary institution, road safety and industry partners selects the most compelling road safety campaign in each state, which is then developed and launched on university or TAFE campuses and oOh!media’s digital assets, including its landmark billboards.
Now in its sixth year, Re:act ran in 2020 in Melbourne with Swinburne, UTS in Sydney and, for the first time, Brisbane, through QUT. The program also expanded internationally into London, at University of the Arts London. In 2021, the Re:act program will grow further in Australia, running in Perth for the first time with Curtin University and expanding to include TAFE campuses across Australia, and there are further plans for international expansion into Europe and South America.