The aim of road safety campaigns is to convey information to road users so as to enhance their knowledge about road safety issues, influence their behaviour on the road and/or prepare them for new safety measures. To be efficient, public information campaigns must be based on a sound knowledge of accident factors and the determinants of road user behaviour. Public information campaigns, whose ultimate goal is to help reduce accidents, necessarily form part of a broader prevention strategy and thus have to he seen in the context of other measures, whether technical, regulatory or educative. Evaluation studies have shown that communication alone rarely succeeds in modifying attitudes or behaviour, particularly where they are resistant to change. When public information campaigns form part of a broader strategy aimed at modifying behaviour, then they can he expected to have a greater impact on driver behaviour. Research should enhance the design and development of public information campaigns. (A)
Samenvatting