In 2004, Congress directed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to work together “to educate the drivers of passenger vehicles on how to share the road safely with commercial motor vehicles (CMVs).” Washington State was selected as the site for an 18 month pilot project because of its success in implementing other highway safety enforcement projects such as Washington State Patrol’s Step Up and R.I.D.E. program in Seattle. Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT) is a pilot project using enforcement, education, media and evaluation to reduce fatalities and injuries resulting from cutting off, tailgating, and speeding around trucks. It applies NHTSA’s High Visibility Enforcement model of Click It or Ticket to unsafe driving by any vehicle around large trucks. Public awareness activities and paid media were designed to increase motorists’ awareness of the need to leave one car length for every 10 miles of speed when merging in front of trucks. Four high-crash interstate corridors, each approximately 25 miles in length, were selected; two intervention corridors received TACT media messages and increased enforcement while two comparison corridors did not. Two waves of enforcement each lasting two weeks (July 11-22 and September 19-30, 2005) took place at the intervention sites. There were a total of 4,737 contacts made with drivers during the two enforcement waves, approximately 237 contacts per day over the 20 days of special TACT enforcement. Most contacts resulted in a citation being issued (72%). Overall, drivers at the intervention sites who said they saw or heard any of the TACT messages increased from 17.7 percent in the pre period to 67.3 percent in the post period. Drivers at the intervention sites also reported increased exposure to the core message of leaving more space when passing trucks (14% pre to 40% post period). The percentage of drivers who said they leave more room when passing trucks than when passing cars, rose from 16 percent in the pre period to 24 percent in the post period at the intervention sites, while comparison sites showed no change. WSP officers in unmarked cars video recorded driving behaviors (one pre and four post interventions) while following semi trucks. Approximately 160 hours of video (8 hours x 4 sites x 5 waves) containing 1,843 sequences in which a passenger vehicle crossed paths with a CMV, whether or not a violation was committed, were extracted from the video based on the information recorded by the troopers. Statistical analyses showed that violation rates were reduced significantly at the intervention sites (between 23% and 46%), while remaining constant at the comparison sites. Overall, the evaluation results provide a consistent picture of the effectiveness of the TACT pilot project. Success was demonstrated at every step – messages were received and understood, knowledge was changed in the intended direction, self reported driving behavior around large trucks improved, and observed driving behaviors confirmed the self reports. An innovative road sign was the most recalled method of relaying TACT’s enforcement and safety message. (Author/publisher)
Abstract