Inspiring young Americans to wear helmets on eMobility vehicles
International road safety program's student campaign launches today
Leo Owusu
An insightful eMobility vehicle road safety campaign, inspired by well-known local 'identities', launched in the United States today to encourage young Americans to always wear a helmet on eScooters and eBikes.
The campaign was created by American university student Leo Owusu as part of the international Re:act road safety behavior change program, which challenges design communications students to raise awareness among 17-25 year olds of road safety risks and to change their behavior. The 2026 program focused on creating a peer-to-peer campaign with a positive message that educates 17-25 year olds to raise awareness of safe use of eMobility vehicles, particularly the importance of wearing a helmet.
The selected campaign, 'Terrapins know to protect their head', will be displayed in Maryland on the digital assets of Re:act's US media partner Clear Channel Outdoor for the next four weeks.
"Thank you to Re:act and its partners for entrusting me with this campaign and giving me the chance to grow as a designer," Leo said. "Inspired by Maryland's beloved diamondback terrapin, this campaign says to the young audience: 'if this turtle born with a shell never rides without a helmet, you shouldn't either'.”
“Combining terrapins, a symbol of the state of Maryland and its sporting teams, with the ‘protect your head’ message was an inspired idea,” Re:act Founder and Executive director Andrew Hardwick said “It was a brilliant campaign among a very strong field and I commend all participating students at the University of Maryland (UMD) on the exceptional standard of the campaigns produced.
“The popularity of eScooters and eBikes has grown globally, with micromobility ridership in the US increasing more than 50-fold in the past 10 years, but this increase in popularity has been mirrored by an increase in injuries and hospital admissions.
“With research also showing helmet use is noticeably lower in eMobility riders, this campaign is a timely and important reminder to young Americans and we thank Re:act partners in the US – program partners Maryland Department of Transportation, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Transurban as well education partner UMD and media partner Clear Channel Outdoor – for helping to spread the message and for their commitment to road safety among young people.”
Visit reactforchange.org to view all campaigns and learn more about the Re:act program.
About Re:act
Since 2016, the annual Re:act road safety behavior change program has increased awareness, built knowledge and changed behavior of drivers and other young road users as well as their personal and professional networks.
The program challenges university and college students to raise awareness of road and workplace safety issues and change behavior among their peers. Its purpose is to engage and bring together a collaboration of industry, government, higher education institutions and students, to inspire positive outcomes.
A local panel of higher education, road safety, workplace safety and industry partners select the most compelling road safety campaign in each jurisdiction, which is then developed and launched on university and college campuses and out-of-home media partner digital assets.
Globally, 12 Re:act programs will run in 2026 across Australia, Chile, Brazil and the United States.
Andrew Hardwick
Re:act Executive Director
M +61 (0)417 334 399
andrew@reactforchange.org