New research targets young drivers in road safety drive
New research commissioned by LARSOA and launched today at the Labour Party Conference will map the route to more effective road safety campaigns aimed at young drivers.
The Local Authority Road Safety Officers’ Association is targeting young drivers who are involved in up to 30% of fatal road crashes, with traffic collisions the single greatest killer of those aged 15-24.
The research, funded by BSM, undertook detailed investigation with young drivers themselves to assess their attitudes to driving, risk-taking and what might make them think twice before taking risks behind the wheel.
Malcolm Burns, LARSOA Chairperson, explains: “Young drivers are one of the most at-risk categories of drivers and pose one of the toughest challenges to Britain’s road safety professionals.
“As an organisation committed to finding new ways of tackling this continuing problem, LARSOA felt it was important to commission new research which would connect with young people and listen to their views on driving, road safety and what they see as the greatest dangers they face while travelling by car.”
The research also tested a series of advertising concepts to see which could form the basis of effective publicity campaigns for those aged 17-20 years old. Road safety officers will be able to use the research to take action and decide the right direction in which to channel resources.
Some of the key issues identified include:
• Young drivers find the prospect of dying less frightening than being left seriously injured or disabled.
• They are more worried about seriously injuring or killing a passenger than hurting themselves.
• Inattention at the wheel was judged an equally important factor in collisions as excessive speed.
• Risk taking is seen as a normal part of driving for 17-20-year-olds.
• There is considerable evidence that the drink drive message is failing with this age group and driving the morning after while over the drink drive limit is widespread with over 52% of respondents admitting to it at one stage of the research.
• Young drivers naturally look for an excuse about why the situations portrayed in campaigns couldn’t happen to them.
Simon Ettinghausen, LARSOA adviser on young drivers, says: “Developing effective road safety messages targeting young people aged around 17 to 20 is particularly difficult. They find it hard to imagine their own mortality and to be successful the research shows that campaigns need to induce a sense of guilt.
“By testing concepts for road safety campaigns on them we were able to discover what they would find most effective and what would be too complex or too tongue-in-cheek to make them stop and think seriously about their driving behaviour.”
Mike Hutter, Managing Director of BSM, the company that funded the research says: “BSM is delighted to have worked in partnership with LARSOA. The research is so valuable as it gives us a true insight into the attitudes of young drivers and helps us to identify the triggers that may lead to changes in their behaviour.
“With almost 3,000 young drivers killed or seriously injured each year, something needs to be done. Safety campaigns play a key role in making drivers much more aware of the direct link between their behaviour and the consequences of not taking risks seriously.
“BSM’s ultimate aim is to educate and instruct novice drivers so they are fully prepared for life long driving, rather than just passing their driving test. Targeted campaigns, such as those developed by LARSOA, can help achieve this.”
A multi-method approach was used for the research and included all government regions*. For qualitative research, four focus groups took place in April with seven or eight young drivers in each. In the second stage, a quantitative methodology was adopted with 130 young drivers (63 males and 67 females) interviewed at four venues across the country.
The findings from these two stages were used to develop eight road safety campaign concepts for young drivers. In the final stage of the research, four focus groups with six to eight respondents in each examined these concepts to decide how effective they found them.
Simon Ettinghausen adds: “We were able to find out just how important getting the right visual is and then making sure the words reflect the concept with strength and impact. Asking a question in the headline or strapline was particularly successful as readers could place themselves directly in the position of the driver and experience their responsibility.
“Road safety officers will be able to use the findings of the research to target their resources better into campaigns which will be effective and good value. We hope this research will make a valuable contribution to reducing the number of young people killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads.”
Notes to Newsdesks/Reporters: For further information please contact: Pete Whelan Jnr on 01287 610404 or 07863 130124.
