Project Edward succeeds in raising awareness of road safety

Project Edward, the inaugural ‘European Day Without A Road Death’, was successful in raising awareness of road safety as it trended on Twitter, making the campaign one of the most talked about things in the UK on the day.

Co-ordinated by TISPOL, the event took place on 21 September and was supported in the UK by Road Safety GB, RoSPA and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

The hashtag #ProjectEdward trended for much of the morning, peaking as high as number six, while TISPOL says tweets using the hashtag reached more than 11m people throughout the course of the day.

Supported by a number of local authorities around the country, the initiative encouraged drivers, riders and pedestrians to spare an extra thought for their safety. It was designed to draw attention to the 70 deaths that occur each day on the roads of Europe.

With the help of GEM Motoring Assist, TISPOL produced 10 short videos in the build up to the event, all of which raise awareness of specific road safety risks and are still available to watch online.

The 30-seconds videos focus on issues such as speeding, alcohol, drugs, fatigue and vulnerable road users.

On top of that, drivers, riders and pedestrians are still being encouraged to ‘make the pledge’ and promise to follow a number of rules to ensure their safety. In a surge on the day, more than 20,000 people signed the road safety pledge, taking the total to more than 100,000.