“LOOK!” Campaign

“LOOK!” Campaign

Introduction

It has been reported by the New York City Department of Transportation that 52% pedestrians are responsible of traffic accidents from 2005-2009. Pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents are a major problem in New York City. Many steps have been taken to address the issue and reduce the fatalities caused by accidents or distracted driving. These steps vary from campaigning, advertisement to the arrests of the offenders of traffic law. “LOOK” is also a campaign launched by the New York City Department of Transportation on September 25, 2012. It is launched to warn pedestrians, drivers, and drivers to look around while travelling on roads.

Discussion

According to the NYPD data reports, preliminary statistics show that last year 155 pedestrians and cyclists were killed in traffic accidents and more than 15,000 sustained injuries. Over the years, The New York City Department of Transportation has undertaken many comprehensive actions to find a solution to the ongoing problem. Several of these actions included hiring crossing guards at major intersections to help direct pedestrian traffic; installing countdown pedestrian signals at 1,500 new intersections; establishing the “walk” and “stop” flashing symbols, re-engineering major two-way streets, as well as painting bold horizontal white lines on street pavement's to help direct pedestrians where to walk and how to cross the streets safely.

However, even after all these attempts, the city knew it could do better, which led to the launch of the recently new LOOK! Campaign. The Look! campaign, which took the city streets by storm earlier this year, not only fit into the landscape of the urban environment seamlessly, it was so well designed that it has also saved people's live, all while acting as an icon that encapsulates the entire experience of being in New York, which is to LOOK!

The department of transportation hopes that when it comes to cross the street, the answer should come form the on-coming traffic or the pedestrian crossing the road rather than the smartphones people hold in their hands all the time or any other distracting thing. Although, a three year old child can tell to look at both sides while crossing the road, always hurried, harried, and distracted New Yorkers and the tourists ignore the rules very often, the rules they have learned in their pre-schools. Owing to this fact, the New York City Department has launched “LOOK” Campaign to jolt the travelers so that they could pay more attention while crossing the streets.

There has always been a need to make New Yorkers realize the importance of traffic rules and to think that a single moment of diversion may become harmful for their own as well as others' lives. The “LOOK” Campaign constitutes innovative street ads, videos, and marketing to send the message of life-saving. It reminds all road travelers including motorists, pedestrians, and drivers to remain alerts while on foot or behind the wheel. The spirit of the campaign is its logo, a clearly designed one. In a busy city like New York, it's often ...