Escuintla is the Guatemalan city with the highest number of motorcycles and where the fewest number of helmets are used. Neither awareness campaigns nor authorities have been able to convince riders about the importance of wearing helmets. In the past year, over 3554 fatal accidents were reported. Most alarming is when parents drive their children to school without helmets.

Instead of launching another traditional awareness campaign, we reached the motorcycle drivers through their children during their classes at school.

We went to schools of Escuintla and asked students to deliver a message that could inspire their parents to use a helmet. The children then painted hundreds of unique helmets and gave them to their parents when they went back to pick them up.

This emotional approach made the riders react. Parents began to wear their helmets, which also worked as a new kind of media in the streets that helped raise awareness of the importance of wearing a helmet.

Finally, the campaign also promoted the creation of a road safety course as part of the education program in Escuintla.

Doodles became more effective than the law itself. Parents began to wear their helmets to set a better example for their kids and for the people of Escuintla. Helmet Lessons worked as a new kind of media in the streets and helped raise awareness of the importance of wearing a helmet. The campaign promoted the creation of a road safety course as part of the education program in Escuintla.

QUANTITATIVE RESULTS

• We sold more helmets in one month than what we did in a decade.

• In fact, samples of helmets not even existed in many motorcycle shops in Escuintla, until now.

• Now, 70% of students in Escuintla use a helmet when parents drive them to school.

QUALITATIVE RESULTS

After Helmet Lessons by Yamaha was put into practice, a road safety course was included in the education program of Escuintla. Children from more than one hundred schools in Escuintla are now learning the risks of not wearing a helmet and as a consequence, they are encouraging their parents to protect them and themselves.