A campaign to promote safe driving behaviour has been carried out among adolescents in two Norwegian counties since 1998. It focused on traffic accident risk perception. The aims of the present paper are to present the results of the evaluation of the effect of the campaign and to examine the association between risk perception and traffic behaviour. A representative sample of adolescents aged 18–24 years old in the two Norwegian counties participating in the campaign (experimental group), as well as a control group of adolescents in two other counties not participating in the campaign were used. Data were collected before it started in October 1998 and also after the campaign (n=4376). The pre-and post-samples consisted of independent groups of respondents. The response rate was 93%. The respondents perceived the risk to be higher after the campaign than before. The respondents of the post-sample of the experimental group also reported less risk behaviour in traffic. The number of speeding accidents was also reduced. Perceived risk was not changed among adolescents in the control group. Neither were there any changes in self-report risk behaviour. The questionnaire measured cognition-based as well as emotion-based risk perception. Model tests showed that assessments of the probability of traffic accidents and concern were non-significant predictors for self-report risk behaviour. Worry and other emotional reactions related to traffic hazards significantly predicted behaviour. Sensation seeking, normlessness (i.e. a state where social norms no longer regulate behaviour), and indifference with regard to traffic safety affected emotion-based risk perception. (Author/publisher)
Abstract