Instead of using a speed
camera for its normal function - to detect and fine speeders - a
speed camera register drivers who keep the legal speed limit and
give them the chance to win a cash prize. The project was launched
just a few weeks ago in Sweden by The National Society for Road
Safety (NTF) and Volkswagen Group Sweden. They hope to encourage
drivers to slow down the pace of vehicle traffic in Stockholm. It
seems that the project is unique in the world as it aims to improve
both the environment and traffic safety. We've tried to find out
more about the initiative from representatives involved in the
project, Marcus Thomasfolk, Communications
Manager, Volkswagen Sweden - initiator of the project - and
Jan Sandberg, President of NTF, Sweden.
I have found out about the speed camera lottery while at Malmo
as one of the journalists who participated at the closing session
of Civitas
Forum 2010. It was Christer Ljungberg
from Trivector Traffic who talks about it during his round up
presentation of the conference. It catches my attention and started
to dig. Thanks to Jonas Eklund from Cloudberry
Communications - a Sweden-based strategic PR and
communications agency - I had the possibility to speak with two
persons involved in the road safety project.
What
The project idea is to try and change the behaviour of drivers
through encouragement instead of threatening them with a fine. The
registration of vehicles driving the legal speed limit, and
participation in the contest, required the approval of the driver.
That is because "the Swedish legislation concerning personal
integrity demands it', says Jan Sandberg, President of
NTF.
The starting point: A theory and an
Award
One year ago,
Volkswagen Sweden created a project called The Fun Theory (see the
note). The idea behind it was "to show that it´s easier for
people to change their behaviour and it is also fun to do so"
told us Marcus Thomasfolk, Communications Manager at Volkswagen
Sweden. "We wanted to convince people that if an environmental
friendly car also is fun to drive, it´s easier to choose it",
he adds.
So, they started to give some video examples, such as the film
"Piano Staircase. "It shows a staircase in a subway
station in Stockholm. The thing about the staircase is that it was
rebuilt to a piano with full sound function! When you stepped on
the steps, a piano sound was heard. Close to the stair case, there
also was an escalator. The idea with the example was to show that
it was more fun (and better for your health and for the
environment) to take the staircase than the escalators if it
sounded like a piano" continues Mr. Thomasfolk.
The impact on public was noticeable and it was measured by an
increased interest in environmentally friendly cars.
To see the video, that has been awarded with the
Grand Prix in Cannes Lions, just Google the name of the
film or click here.
As part of the Fun Theory project, Volkswagen Sweden created
The Fun Theory Award where people were encouraged to send
their ideas of how fun could help in changing behaviour to the
better. They received about 700 entries from 46 countries.
The friendly bin idea came from Romania: "to shape
the garbage container in a way that attracts the kids: a cute
colourful animal. This way, the curious little ones will ask about
the big pink cute thing and the parents will explain it is for
garbage, bringing it more into their attention" as it was
submitted (for details click here).
However, "the winner of this award was Mr. Kevin Richardson
from California, US. His idea was to create a Speed Camera Lottery.
It should work like a speed camera but in the opposite way. Instead
of punishing drivers who don´t keep the speed limits, it takes
photos of drivers who keep the speed limit. These drivers are then
part of a lottery and able to win money", says Marcus
Thomasfolk.
2000 euros to win
The winner of the lottery wins a cash prize of 20 000 SEK (about
2000 euros). For the moment, he/she is not decided yet.
Volkswagen and NTF
The speed camera project was put into practice by Volkswagen in
collaboration with the National Society for Road Safety (NTF). The
experiment consisted of speed measuring before and after a period
test.
'Why?'
Jan
Sandberg, President of NTF, told in the press release that they
"chose to carry out this project where the speed limit is 30
km/h for a very important reason: there is a much greater risk that
unprotected road users will be killed at a speed of 50 km/h than at
30 km/h, for example. A marginal decrease in speed can therefore
mean the difference between life and death for an unprotected road
user".
As initiator of the project, Marcus Thomasfolk said that
"among other goals we want this project to show that automotive
manufacturers can play a bigger and more active role in general
road safety than by just building better and safer cars. By turning
the concept of a speed camera around, we can again test if
encouragement functions better than threats to enhance road safety
and reduce the environmental impact of traffic".
What happened?
At the end of September 2010, Volkswagen and NTF put the idea
with the camera into practice in the city of Stockholm. "We
placed it at a street with a speed limit of 30 km/h and had it
there for three days." They have used only one camera. The
next stages of the project, such as installing on other places in
Sweden - and who knows, maybe in other countries, such as Romania -
are depending on first conclusions.
Results
The installed camera did
make drivers to keep the speed limit. Furthermore, "the speed
went down with more than 10%" says Jan Sandberg commenting on
the results of the testing period.
What next?
The near future might bring a follow up of the project. "I
think a possible extension might be to try the same equipment in
different places in Sweden. After that we will see what is to be
done" Jan Sandberg finally added.
Note:
More info about The Fun Theory is available here.