Do Road Safety Communication Campaigns Work?

Road safety communication campaigns are considered an efficient strategy for reaching a wide audience. They aim at reducing the number and severity of road crashes by influencing road user behavior. Despite the large number of campaigns that have been designed and implemented in recent years, few have been formally evaluated. This paper presents the evaluation design and the implementation of a national road safety communication campaign on the effects of fatigue on driving behavior. The campaign targeted primarily professional drivers and, secondarily, all other drivers The definition of the objectives of the campaign was addressed through the health belief model. Objectives included increasing awareness of the severity of driving while fatigued and of effective countermeasures. The measurement variables of the evaluation design, also addressed by the health belief model, were knowledge, behavioral beliefs, risk comprehension, behavioral intentions, past behavior, and self-reported behavior. The evaluation was based on a nonexperimental design. The use of control groups was not feasible, since the whole population was exposed to the campaign and data were collected by means of a face-to-face questionnaire survey conducted before, during, and after campaign implementation. Process and outcome evaluations were conducted to assess the impact of the campaign on driving behavior. Results indicated that the audience was reached at a mean rate of 13%, and the distribution of campaign leaflets was the most effective media channel (70%). In addition, a statistically significant increase in the proportion of respondents who were aware of the causes and effects of fatigue while driving was observed. Similar results were indicated in testing behavioral beliefs, risk comprehension, behavioral intentions, and past behavior. The main message of the campaign reached both the primary and the secondary target groups, and its success can be seen by the increase in the percentage of professional drivers and all other drivers who self-reported that they stop and rest for 15 min in the “during” and “after” phases, as compared with the “before” phase.

[1]  S. Urbina,et al.  Psychological testing, 7th ed. , 1997 .

[2]  R F Job,et al.  Motor vehicle accidents, fatigue and optimism bias in taxi drivers. , 1997, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[3]  R. Beasley,et al.  Sleep disorders: a potential role in New Zealand motor vehicle accidents , 2002, Internal medicine journal.

[4]  Max Cameron,et al.  A REVIEW OF MASS MEDIA CAMPAIGNS IN ROAD SAFETY , 2004 .

[5]  Torgeir Vaa,et al.  Meta-analysis of the effect of road safety campaigns on accidents. , 2011, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[6]  A. Muzet,et al.  Effect of driving duration and partial sleep deprivation on subsequent alertness and performance of car drivers , 2005, Physiology & Behavior.

[7]  I. Ajzen.  Constructing a TpB Questionnaire: Conceptual and Methodological Considerations , 2002 .

[8]  G Maycock,et al.  Sleepiness and driving: the experience of U.K. car drivers. , 1997, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[9]  Ward Vanlaar,et al.  Fatigued and Drowsy Driving: Attitudes, Concerns and Practices of Ontario Drivers , 2007 .

[10]  D. Dinges,et al.  The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness: dose-response effects on neurobehavioral functions and sleep physiology from chronic sleep restriction and total sleep deprivation. , 2003, Sleep.

[11]  I. Rosenstock.  Why people use health services. , 1966, The Milbank Memorial Fund quarterly.

[12]  Patricia Delhomme,et al.  Manual for Designing, Implementing and Evaluating Road Safety Communication Campaigns , 2009 .

[13]  F Sagberg,et al.  Road accidents caused by drivers falling asleep. , 1999, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[14]  G. Privitera.  Statistics for the behavioral sciences, 2nd ed. , 2015 .

[15]  L W Bivens,et al.  Responsible conduct of research. , 1991, ASHA.

[16]  Rune Elvik,et al.  The Handbook of Road Safety Measures , 2009 .

[17]  Rune Elvik,et al.  Introductory Guide to Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis , 2005 .

[18]  William M. K. Trochim,et al.  Research methods knowledge base , 2001 .

[19]  Natasha Merat,et al.  Fatigue and road safety: a critical analysis of recent evidence , 2011 .

[20]  S. Siegel,et al.  Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences , 2022, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[21]  Susan V Heatherley,et al.  Caffeine withdrawal, sleepiness, and driving performance: What does the research really tell us? , 2011, Nutritional neuroscience.

[22]  S. McKernon Supplejack.  A literature review on driver fatigue among drivers in the general public , 2009 .

[23]  Jeremy Woolley,et al.  Literature review on best practice with mass media , 2001 .

[24]  Drew Dawson,et al.  Perception of simulated driving performance after sleep restriction and caffeine. , 2007, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[25]  I. Rosenstock.  The Health Belief Model and Preventive Health Behavior , 1974 .

[26]  Graham Kalton,et al.  Introduction to Survey Sampling , 1983 .

[27]  Linda M. Goldenhar,et al.  Guide to Evaluating the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Work Injuries: How to Show Whether a Safety Intervention Really Works , 2001 .

[28]  S D Baulk,et al.  Chasing the silver bullet: measuring driver fatigue using simple and complex tasks. , 2008, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[29]  C. Guilleminault,et al.  Fatigue, sleep restriction and driving performance. , 2005, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[30]  Ali Kazemi,et al.  A theoretical approach to assess road safety campaigns : evidence from seven European countries , 2009 .

[31]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[32]  Stuart D Baulk,et al.  Awareness of sleepiness when driving. , 2004, Psychophysiology.

[33]  C. Cook,et al.  Sleep related vehicle accidents , 1995, BMJ.

[34]  Lisa N. Wundersitz,et al.  Best Practice in Road Safety Mass Media Campaigns: A Literature Review , 2010 .

[35]  Ward Vanlaar,et al.  Fatigued and drowsy driving: a survey of attitudes, opinions and behaviors. , 2008, Journal of safety research.

[36]  Giannis Adamos,et al.  Experimental Approach Toward Evaluation of Mass Media Road Safety Campaigns: Comparative Analysis of Two Case Studies , 2011 .

[37]  J. Prochaska,et al.  Stages and processes of self-change of smoking: toward an integrative model of change. , 1983, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.