Media > Channels

ROADS THAT HONK

HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORPORATION LTD, Mumbai / HPCL / 2017

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Overview

Credits

OVERVIEW

Idea

Our idea is 'Roads that Honk.'

We created smart poles that communicates with each other on both sides of these hairpin turns, and alerts drivers with the sound of a horn. The radar on the smart poles reads the speed of the vehicles, and then communicates with the smart pole at the other end. These smart poles then alert the drivers on both sides by honking.

Honking lets the drivers know about the approaching vehicle, so now, even if a driver is approaching a turn at 60 km/hr., he would have enough time to slow down. And cross safely.

So, with this idea, we have eliminated any given chance of dependency, because sound is the one and only medium that a driver cannot ignore. Because at the end of the day, one car slowed down, is one life saved.

Execution

At hairpin bends, drivers are uncertain of whether a vehicle is approaching from the other side of the bend, which often leads to over speeding, causing major accidents and casualties.

We wanted to save these lives by getting drivers to slow down. Our idea is 'Roads that Honk.' The world's first ever road that honks at drivers to avoid head-on collisions and casualties.

We created smart poles that communicates with each other on both sides of these hairpin turns, alerting drivers with the sound of a horn. The radar on the smart poles reads the speed of the vehicles, and then communicates with the smart pole at the other end. These smart poles then alert the drivers on both sides by honking.

This became the only warning sign that drivers couldn’t ignore. HP Lubricants in association with NHAI aims to take this technology all across India at every accident-prone turn.

Results

Over 3.8 million views on YouTube within a week.

50 million Media impressions were generated in the first 3 hours of the launch.

105 million media impressions since the release.

Over 15 million social media reach.

Roads that honk technology received an overwhelming response from the auto media as well as people across various social platforms. The biggest takeaway came when even Dharmendra Pradhan, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India spoke about the technology innovation.

National Highway Association of India is installing this technology across all major hairpin bends that were accident prone and were threat to drivers.

Even the Saudi Ministry of Transportation is installing the smart life poles in their country

Within 2 weeks, data suggested that over 8 out of 10 speeding drivers slowed down at these turns. And accidents were reduced by 45% on these hairpin bends.

Relevancy

The Jammu-Srinagar highway in India is voted as one of the world's deadliest highways. It has over 150 deadly hairpin bends. 80% of accidents on this highway occur at these dangerous hairpin bends, as drivers seldom know what is coming from the other side of the blind spots.

Our idea is "Roads that Honk." The world's first ever road that honks at drivers to avoid head-on collisions and casualties.

With the use of roads and sound as our two mediums, this technology stands out as the one and only warning-sign relevant to speeding drivers to slow down and cross safely.

Strategy

On the hairpin bends, drivers are uncertain of whether or not a vehicle is approaching from the other side, which often leads to over speeding, causing major accidents and casualties.

As drivers, it is humane to miss the signs, or ignore them entirely. Especially in extreme weather conditions such as rain, snow and heavy fog. Sometimes, drivers even choose not to honk at these hairpin turns, thinking there wouldn’t be a vehicle approaching from the other end.

So, with our idea of Roads that Honk, we have eliminated any given chance of dependency, because sound is the one and only medium that a driver cannot ignore.

And our choice of amber LED lights will only reinforce the drivers on both sides to slow down and cross each other safely. Because at the end of the day, one car slowed down, is just as good as one life saved.

Background

The Jammu-Srinagar highway in India is voted as one of the world's deadliest highways, according to National Geographic. It has over 150 deadly hairpin bends. 80% of car accidents on this highway occur at dangerous hairpin bends, since drivers seldom know what is coming from the other side of the blind spot. They often miss the warning signs due to zero visibility and end up over speeding on these turns.

The challenge was to get drivers to slow down at these bends to avoid road accidents and casualties.

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