A Red Light For Helmet Shunners

da Maud Largeaud , AdForum

In Argentina, almost 40% of motorcyclists don’t wear a helmet – so it’s not surprising that 44% of accident victims are young scooter or motorbike riders. Honda and its local agency Almacen came up with a smart way of drawing attention to the problem. They installed a set of traffic lights that used facial recognition to identify riders who weren’t wearing a helmet. Unless the guilty party put on a helmet, the lights stayed red – much to the annoyance of other motorists. Although the experience was limited to a single location, a film of the shamed riders went viral thanks to a Tiktok influencer, attracting 11 million views (for a population of 45 million) and encouraging young people to wear helmets. The project may be expanded to other Latin American markets.