Evaluation of the nation-wide Traffic Safety Campaign "Runter vom Gas!" ["Down with speed!"]. The traffic safety campaign "Runter vom Gas!" ["Down with speed!"] has been continued in 2009 with new contents and various events. For the first time, motorcyclists were addressed as target audience beyond the main risk group of young drivers. The present research project examined the resonance and acceptance the campaign received in the German mass media and the population. The project continued evaluation research that had begun in 2008. Accordingly, (1) media coverage of the campaign was analyzed systematically. Furthermore, (2) two representative surveys were conducted – one wave in June 2009, and the second wave in February 2010. These studies assessed the campaign impact on the population. In addition, (3) qualitative studies served to explore relevant perception and attitude patterns of motor-cyclists. The overall goal of the evaluation project was to monitor the further development of "Runter vom Gas!" in its second year and to derive recommendations about how communication efforts on traffic safety could be continued. (1) The media content analysis revealed that "Runter vom Gas" stimulated a substantial amount of media coverage in 2009. Between January and December, a total of 249 media reports on the campaign was registered in daily newspapers, news magazines, special interest magazines as well as major online news sites and information media for motorcyclists. Journalist judgments of the campaign were positive with only very rare exceptions. The campaign’s bill-board motives appeared frequently as illustration of media reports. Thus, media coverage in 2009 has again extended the outreach and visibility of "Runter vom Gas!" significantly. (2) According to the results of the survey studies, public awareness of "Runter vom Gas!" has increased in 2009, in the sense that a growing portion of the population (24 percent) can recall the slogan of the campaign without prior information. The share of the population that is generally aware of the campaign remains stable at 68 percent. Moreover, "Runter vom Gas" has achieved high levels of acceptance and agreement among citizens and is judged as credible and professional. The intended shock impact occurs in the population to satisfying degrees, however differences emerged between motive types and target audiences. In spite of these sustainable positive outcomes that match the success of the first campaign year, people’s attitudes towards driving speed did not change. Major challenges remain in the communication with main risk groups, that is, young drivers and motorcyclists. Young male drivers in particular tend to respond to lesser degrees to the campaign motives than, for instance, young female drivers. The overall audience resonance of the campaign is positive, but it should be further extended in respect to driving intentions in the future. (3) In-depth studies on motorcyclists revealed several attitude patterns that may be helpful in future campaign communication, such as positive views of fun through speeding, high self-confidence concerning motorbike control and protective clothing, and an attribution of accident risks to "unreasonable" car drivers. An analysis of online communication about the campaign’s video series "Fierek’s workshop" found that these free online videos reached motorcyclists very effectively. Overall, the continuation of "Runter vom Gas!" in 2009 was a communication success. From the project results, the following recommendations were derived: (A) the success achieved so far should be continued; (B) the campaign strategy of fear appeals should be completed by messages on coping with reasons of high-speed driving; (C) strategic partnerships should be discussed as possibility to further strengthen campaign visibility; (D) online communication should be expanded; (E) public relations efforts should keep up the high frequency of campaign events and assign greater priority to online communication; (F) future accompanying research should already be included in the planning stage of the campaign. (Author/publisher)
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