Using Education
Education has long been a staple of many road safety initiatives , and there ’ s a real logic to the idea of telling people about the consequences of their actions so that they can change their attitudes and ( crucially ) their behaviours . If we can encourage people to make safe choices , we can protect them at all times , and not just when there ’ s a chance of getting caught .
But there are lots of different forms of education , methods of delivery , and ideas that lie behind it - and some may be better suited to your particular problem than others . It ’ s crucial to think of who we are trying to educate , as research suggests that some groups respond differently to the same kind of education , for example males and females , young drivers and experienced drivers ¹. Sometimes the benefits of education can take a long time to show themselves too , which is something to bear in mind when it comes to evaluation .
The purpose of the following section is to demonstrate how education has previously been used in road safety , including the general use of education as an alternative to prosecution , and education through campaigns . More focused case studies will then be provided to show how such education may operate in practice , and how the Mobile : Engaged research project were involved with bringing the research knowledge together with the practical experience of the people we worked with .
We also need to think about different styles of presentation . The same message can be communicated in different ways , for example through the generation of fear , appeals to emotion , and appeals to rationality . In the next few pages , we ’ ll take you through some of the advantages and disadvantages of each .
Although we would like drivers to drive safely because it is the right thing to do , we may also want to educate our audiences about the chances of detection and the consequences of being caught , as some people will find this the most persuasive argument in favour of behaviour change . These ‘ rational ’ approaches are explained on p72 .
In our context there are two main ways that we might want to use education -
- as a specific intervention to discourage a particular individual ( for example an alternative to prosecution for a specific offence such as a Speed Awareness Course , or by a police officer at the roadside )
- as a general intervention to educate a group or population ( such as a school programme or awareness campaign ).
¹ Lewis , I ., Watson , B ., Tay , R . and White , K . M ., ( 2007 ). The role of fear appeals in improving driver safety : A review of the effectiveness of fear-arousing ( threat ) appeals in road safety advertising . International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy , 3 ( 2 ), p . 203 .
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