Review of Risk Communication Strategies and Existing Occupant Protection Safety Messages

National Highway Traffic Safey Administration (NHTSA), in conjunction with the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), identified a need to provide States with information to apply to messaging campaigns for impaired and distracted driving and occupant protection. In 2015, a contract was awarded through Volpe Center to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) to conduct a Review of Risk Communication Strategies and Existing Impaired and Distracted Driving Safety Messages. This contract aims to utilize the groundwork currently being conducted by UMTRI to identify risk communication strategies via a literature review of theory and practice that would apply to a wide range of risky behaviors. While UMTRI’s current contract includes impaired and distracted driving, this contract supplements these risky driving behaviors with the addition of occupant protection messaging. For this project, occupant protection is defined as seat belts and child restraint systems for motor vehicles. This project will identify the psychological and communication theories that best support communication strategies and campaigns for occupant protection, identify non-high visibility enforcement model materials currently used and which, if any, employ psychological and communication theories, and consolidate that information in a non-technical, user-friendly format that can then be provided to States and local jurisdictions for future efforts. The project will transition research findings regarding effective health and safety communication campaigns that were based on communication and psychological theory and apply them to communication campaigns that address occupant protection.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This study is being conducted under the National Cooperative Research and Evaluation Program (NCREP), which is administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and jointly managed by NHTSA and the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $118553
• Contract Numbers:

  DTNH2216P00102

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, D.C.  United States  20590

  Governors Highway Safety Association

  444 N. Capitol Street, NW, Suite 722
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Office of Behavioral Safety Research

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, District of Columbia  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Johnson, Kristie

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute

  2901 Baxter Road
  Ann Arbor, Michigan  United States  48109
• Principal Investigators:

  Johnson, Kristie

• Start Date: 20160929
• Expected Completion Date: 20231231
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: Behavioral Safety Research
• Subprogram: Child Passenger Safety
• Subprogram: NCREP
• Subprogram: Seat Belt Use

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Impaired drivers; Occupant protection devices; Restraint systems; Risk assessment; Seat belt use; Traffic safety
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01629745
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Contract Numbers: DTNH2216P00102
• Files: RIP, USDOT
• Created Date: Mar 23 2017 4:17PM