Vision Zero SF: Safety Behavior Change Campaign

In 2016, 30 people died and over 500 more were severely injured while traveling on San Francisco streets. Conventional wisdom accepts traffic deaths as an inevitable part of modern-day mobility. But traffic fatalities are preventable and unacceptable. The City adopted Vision Zero SF, aiming for zero traffic deaths through education, enforcement and policy changes. Our team created the Vision Zero SF brand, messages, outreach and social media strategies.

Recognizing that everyone has different levels of awareness, the messaging framework flows through five stages—from no knowledge of traffic safety issues, to becoming fully aware, changing behavior and becoming an advocate for safer streets. This multistage approach has been a catalyst in addressing each audience with compelling messages that advance them to the next stage of engagement. The education campaigns and touchpoints have included billboards and transit shelters to establish traffic safety awareness (“Heartbreak” ads, Kill With Kindness), bus advertising to encourage drivers to yield at intersections, radio spots to promote safer speeds (Safe Speeds), targeted paid social media and outreach cards to curb the incidence of distracted driving.

Through Vision Zero SF’s integrated solutions approach, San Francisco reached a major traffic safety milestone in 2017: a 30% drop in traffic deaths, the lowest in the City’s history.