Developing and Evaluating Messages to Promote Sober Driving

Introduction

Traffic crashes are a leading cause of death among young people, and impaired driving is implicated in a large proportion of crashes. While there is a wealth of research about ways to message the public to reduce impaired driving, relatively little focuses on messaging the newest generation of drivers, who may have grown up with different cultures and social pressures than previous generations. Understanding how young people perceive and experience impairment is essential to developing targeted campaigns to promote sober driving.  

Project Goal & Plan

Using evidence from the literature and interactive focus groups, this project will develop original messages to promote sober driving among two target populations (young people 15-20 and young people 21-25). Messages will be evaluated to identify those most likely to resonate with the target populations, so that the most promising messages can be turned into campaigns. Developed campaigns will then be field tested in select markets to assess recall, attitudes, and impact of sober driving in each target population group.  This work will help guide future communications and campaign strategies to promote sober driving among young people.