In the Netherlands the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management has the overall responsibility for traffic safety. The aim is to constantly improve policy. In this context the Ministry initiated a study on the innovation of interventions regarding traffic safety behaviour. In 2002 Traffic Test, a consultant specialized in behavioural sciences, stated that safety perception is the key to the solution. The message was: make road users feel less safe than they actually are by giving them direct and explicit negative feedback. Policy makers were not happy with this approach and asked the Transport Research Centre of the Ministry (AVV) to look for more positive ways of dealing with wanted and unwanted road safety behaviour. AVV commissioned Tabula Rasa to find new ways for dealing with problems associated with road user behaviour. AVV translated the results for the road safety field and these are summarized in this paper. The paper examines the motives of road users, depending on situations or social background, which lead to safe or unsafe behaviour. Conscious and unconscious motives are discussed in relation to planned or unplanned behaviour. From the literature six general strategies were found in regard to changing behaviour: communication of normal behaviour; use of social networks; feedback and self management; making a promise and consistency; priming - works by way of stimuli that trigger behaviour in an associative way, and rewarding road users. Although some of the above strategies for positive behaviour are quite commonly used, most appear to be new in the field traffic safety policy development and campaigning. Therefore, implementation of strategies requires thorough deliberation. For the covering abstract see ITRD E136183.
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