Rational approaches
Rational approaches have also been described as
‘information’ or ‘enforcement’ approaches as they
provide a range of information that often relates to
what an offence is, the penalties associated with that
offence and/or how to improve a driving skill, rather
than attempting to generate and exploit emotions. They
may be used to explain a change in law, or an increase
in penalties associated with an offence and are primarily
used as an awareness raising, rather than behaviour
change strategy. They often rely on the assumption that
the audience is rational and will choose the behaviour
that benefits them most and costs them least.
Where individuals have been shown to have an
information or skill deficit, a rational approach may
be useful. However, research has produced mixed
findings regarding their ability to significantly reduce
offending behaviour¹ ². These approaches may
increase knowledge and skill, but they do not appear
to influence road user behaviour that well. In some
circumstances, it may be more useful to combine their
use with educational styles that explain to individuals
the importance of safe road user behaviour so that they
are able to recognise the relevance and importance of
those safe driving skills – the why as well as the how.
It is useful to offer this style of education where it has
been identified that an information or skill deficit is
evident (misunderstanding of roads signs, perhaps,
or where a new rule or road layout has been applied).
In the case of mobile phone use by drivers, the lack
of understanding that the law applies when a driver
is stationary in a traffic jam might be an example of a
knowledge-deficit that could be addressed by a rational
approach to education, as might the message that
hands-free use has the potential to be as distracting as
handheld use (a message that still seems to surprise
many drivers).
¹ Ker, K., Roberts, I., Collier, T., Beyer, F., Bunn, F. and Frost, C., (2005).
Post-licence driver education for the prevention of road traffic crashes:
a systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Accident Analysis &
Prevention, 37(2), pp.305-313.
2
Stanton, N.A., Walker, G.H., Young, M.S., Kazi, T. and Salmon, P.M., (2007).
Changing drivers’ minds: the evaluation of an advanced driver coaching
system. Ergonomics, 50(8), pp.1209-1234.
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