International road safety program delivers ‘shared responsibility’ message to young Americans.
An international road safety program, which allows young road users to create engaging behaviour
change campaigns for their own age group, launches in the United States today for the first time.
The Re:act road safety behaviour change program challenges university students to raise awareness
among 18-25 year olds of road safety issues to change behaviour and make all road users safer.
Re:act will run in the United States for the first time in 2022, with students at University of Maryland-College
Park (UMD). Maryland joins 11 other locations around the world where Re:act is running this year,
including in Brazil, the United Kingdom and across Australia. All Re:act topics chosen are aligned to local
road safety issues.
Under the Re:act program, a panel of government safety and industry partners selects the most
compelling road safety campaign, which is then developed and launched in public via Re:act’s media
partner on out-of-home advertising assets.
“This is the first time Re:act has been run in the United States,” Re:act Founder and CEO Andrew
Hardwick says. “Maryland is proactive in introducing measures to reduce road trauma, and our unique
program will build on this progress.
“With interactions between vehicles and vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and cyclists,
accounting for a significant proportion of road trauma in Maryland and across the United States, and in
fact globally, Re:act 2022 will focus on raising awareness among all road user groups that we each have
a shared responsibility to contribute to the safety of all road users.
“Program evaluation and feedback has consistently shown Re:act is effective in increasing awareness
and changing behaviour of young road users by giving them a voice in road safety and bringing together
a unique collaboration of industry, government, universities and students.
“Re:act’s launch in the United States today reflects the commitment of our program partners to road
safety, in particular reducing road trauma among young road users who are over-represented in road
fatalities and injuries the world over.”
Antwon Key, Director of the Graphic Design program at University of Maryland-College Park, added: “The
Department of Art at the University of Maryland-College Park’s Graphic Design concentration welcomes
the partnership with the Re:act 2022 US program.
“The Graphic Design concentration at the University of Maryland is rooted in an appreciation of graphic
design as a vehicle for social change. Through this partnership, our students will have the opportunity to
highlight how graphic design can be used to communicate and address social issues.”
Russ Rader, Senior Vice President for Communications at Re:act 2022 U.S. program partner Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety added: “As we face an epidemic of road deaths in the U.S., looking to the
creativity and energy of young people offers hope for how we can better implement proven solutions.
“Recognizing that we need a combination of education, engineering and equitable enforcement to make
a difference, we look forward to hearing how students would communicate with their peers to reduce the
toll of crashes and save lives.”
“Everything we do at Transurban works to get travelers where they need to go as quickly and safely as
possible,” said Pierce Coffee, president at Re:act 2022 U.S. program partner Transurban North America.
“As we partner with Maryland to reduce congestion and deliver expanded travel choices along the Capital
Beltway and I-270, we are proud to join Re:act and Maryland students to drive innovative solutions to
reduce distracted driving and encourage safer roads across our corridor’s communities.”
