Know your audience
Whilst you may have identified that you may want to target young drivers , you might want to be even more specific than that and think about specific age groups , about gender or about localities for example . Schools and colleges are a good place to find some - but not all - young people . Some won ’ t be in education , some will be older than compulsory education age , and some might be better reached as learner drivers than as students more generally .
Designing the best intervention for those who need it should mean looking at the research evidence about young drivers ( and there is plenty ), but it should also mean talking to the people who know them best 1 . Consider piloting your intervention with a group of young people , or showing it to teachers or youth workers who will be able to give you feedback on your method , message and approach .
If you are hoping to interact with young drivers via their school or college , try to find out as much as you can about the environment , the context and the curriculum . Your intervention will only be one of a number of activities the audience is involved in in a single day . It might also be the case that the audience has recently had another form of intervention on the topic , or has already seen one innovative and groundbreaking production that day ! It ’ s also worth knowing if the group are preoccupied with revision , for example , or if someone in ( or known to ) the group has recent experience of a crash . All these contextual factors may make your message more or less likely to be received .
Recent research suggests that interventions aimed at this group may fail because they lack BCTs ( see p22 ). The review of projects and their outcomes found evidence about the effectiveness of goalsetting ; self-monitoring of behaviour ; providing information on consequences ; social support ; providing instruction , and providing feedback on performance 2 . The full review is available via www . roadsafetyobservatory . com
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1
Assailly , J . P . ( 2017 ) ‘ Road Safety Education : What works ?’ Patient Education and Counselling , S24-S29
2
Sullman , M . ( 2017 ) Young Driver Safety : A review of behaviour change techniques for future interventions RAC Foundation . Available at http :// www . racfoundation . org / assets / rac _ foundation / content / downloadables / Young _ driver _ safety _ a _ review _ of _ behaviour _ change _ techniques _ for _ future _ interventions _ MSullman _ March _ 2017 . pdf