This chapter considers the utility of the Theory of Planned Behaviour for informing the development of interventions to increase road safety awareness among adolescent pedestrians. The chapter begins with an overview of accident data which highlights the increased vulnerability of this age group. During adolescence it is likely that motivational and behavioural factors play an important role in accident involvement. A survey of over 1800 school children (Evans 1999) employed the TPB to examine the motivational determinants of potentially hazardous road-crossing decisions. On the basis of the results of this survey, a school drama group (n = 13) was invited to devise and develop a short theatre intervention to increase road safety awareness among adolescent pedestrians. The theatre piece was then performed to a group of school children (n = 88) who completed TPB questionnaires two weeks before the performance and again directly afterwards. A control group (n = 141) completed the questionnaires on two occasions separated by two weeks. After watching the theatre piece, the school children reported more negative behavioural and normative beliefs. In contrast, the beliefs of the control group remained stable over time. In addition, pupils in the drama group, who completed TPB questionnaires before and after developing the theatre piece, reported more negative intentions and lower perceptions of control about crossing the road in a potentially hazardous manner at the end of the project. The results are discussed in relation to the potential of school-based theatre interventions to increase road safety awareness and the need to engage recipients of the intervention actively so that they process the road safety information being presented systematically. (Author/publisher)
Abstract