In Romania, only 7% of driving school students get their driving license at first attempt. Most of them fail the basic theory exam.
Also, according to police statistics, new drivers between 18 and 35 years old are the main cause of serious and fatal accidents.
One of the reasons is an abstract learning method based on illustrated tests, unchanged for almost a century.
The Automobile Club of Romania invented a way to get students from illustration to the real streets from the very beginning:
Street View Test. The first driving school method using real life scenarios from the Google Street View platform.
Results and Effectiveness
Results to date:
The idea caught large public attention on prime time TV, national and international media: 1.860 media placements + coverage on 7 main TV Romanian stations.
25% more students enlisted to ACR driving schools
37% more ACR students passed the driving theory exam from first attempt.
In plan to be implemented as official method in Romanian driving schools.
Picked by Federation Internationale d'Automobile, in plan to be implemented in other countries.
Google Creative Sandbox official pick.
Media and driving school students unanimously declared Street View Tests as “better, more relevant than those used by the Police”.
Creative Execution
The real life scenarios are hand picked by the Automobile Club instructors from the Google Street View Platform and turned into driving theory tests.
The website’s engine picks those scenarios from the “Street View” API to generate random tests, in the official exam format.
Experienced drivers can also go on the website and flag traffic mistakes or challenging road scenarios using the Google Street View platform. The submissions are reviewed by ACR instructors and turned into exam questions.
Insights, Strategy and the Idea
With driving schools all over Romania, ACR had to reach all potential student prospects. Most of them being youngsters aged 18 – 25 and not having ACR as the first top-of-mind option for their driving school.
The Google Street View platform was used for the first time as a driving school theory resource.
Students can now learn traffic rules directly on the streets they’re going to drive on. A more relevant and engaging way of studying theory, in the digital environment they’re most comfortable with.