Safety Communications

RELATED TOPICS: Vision Zero

The goal of most traffic safety campaigns is to motivate roadway users to adopt safer behaviors (e.g., driving at a safer speed, yielding to pedestrians, wearing safety equipment, etc.). Analysis of crash data and other safety assessments, observational studies, or community feedback help identify community traffic safety problems. This information helps inform the design of campaign messages and methods of communication. Most safety problems cannot be addressed by campaigns alone. Ideally, safety campaigns should accompany and bolster infrastructure improvements, policy changes, or enforcement efforts to address safety problems. Research suggests that one of the most promising ways to reach and engage intended audiences is to work with people who exert social influence in the community to relay simple, practical, health protective information.

Campaign messages should be framed to motivate road users to take self protection action for a specific reason (e.g., to safely return to one's family), repeated often, and distributed to audiences in culturally appropriate ways (e.g., translating campaign materials into communities' primary languages, speaking to communities' values of concern for themselves, their family, and friends). Local partnerships provide expertise and knowledge in framing campaign messages. Traffic safety communication and outreach could take a variety of forms depending on the message and intended audience, including direct contact with community influencers (as mentioned above), traditional mass media, social media, or presentations to community groups, public events, and others.

Resources

Media Framing Guide for Traffic Injuries and Crashes
Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety (CSCRS)
Recommends ways that transportation and public health professionals can improve reporting on road safety.

Shaping the Narrative Around Traffic Injury
Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety (CSCRS)
Offers strategies for reframing the narrative around traffic injuries in the media for transportation and public health professionals.

Using Data to Tell Stories and Make the Case
National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)
Summarizes key takeaways from the "When Numbers Talk" conference session.

Communicating Safe Behavior Practices to Vulnerable Road Users
Behavioral Traffic Safety Cooperative Research Program
Presents a toolkit to help practitioners communicate safe behavior practices to vulnerable road users.

Improving How Journalists Report Car Crashes with Bicyclists and Pedestrians
Vision Zero Reporting
Offers a tool to help journalists report crashes involving bicyclists and pedestrians more accurately.

More Resources >

 

Examples

Speeding Prevention Campaigns
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Details campaigns to combat speeding and its consequences.

Walkability Wins
America Walks
Showcases pedestrian improvements across the country via a monthly update.

Implementing Safety Action Plans
Toole Design
Describes via case studies three key principles for advancing a Safety Action Plan into a successful implementation

Community Story Map Honoring Those Who Have Died or Suffered Life-Changing Injuries
Families for Safe Streets
Provides an interactive story map honoring those who have died or suffered life-changing injuries in traffic crashes.

Effective Communication Message Strategy for Enhancing Traffic Safety in Fresno County: The Role of Time Horizon, Regulatory Focus, and Perceived Personal Control
Mineta Transportation Institute
Shares effective messaging and framing for safe practices.

More Examples >