Lebanese Drivers Shamed into Adopting Better Driving Habits through Crowdsourcing

The Impact BBDO agency, a marketing and communications company that uses crowdsourcing, is running the new Lebanese safe driving campaign called “Do You See Yourself?” The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation has endorsed the program in an effort to reduce dangerous driving. Residents are asked to take photographs and videos of dangerous drivers which will then be posted to the Cheyef7alak website or Facebook page, where it will be available for public viewing.

Cheyef7alak is Arabic for “Do you see yourself?” The principal being tested is to see if public shame and humiliation are enough to alter bad driving behavior.

The hope is that drivers will become more aware of how others perceive them and the full extent of the danger that they caused after seeing pictures of themselves driving wrecklessly. Lebanon, along with Saudi Arabia, the United Emirates, and Iran, has a reputation for dangerous driving. Every year 12,000 out of 38 million people die in the gulf region, and the vast majority are due to driving accidents. Crowdsourcing may be the best solution to decreasing the amount of wreckless driving.