PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
In
1999, motor vehicle crashes claimed the lives of 3,519 people in Texas,
and injured an additional 339,448. According to data from the Fatality
Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 49 percent of these crash fatalities
were alcohol-related, and 40.9 percent of those fatally injured were
not wearing safety belts. Texas has a large, diverse and widely distributed
population, which includes 14 million licensed drivers in 254 counties.
As a result, disseminating traffic safety messages to motorists statewide
is especially challenging.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
To increase
public awareness and understanding of traffic safety problems throughout
the state, the Traffic Safety Section of the Texas Department of Transportation
(TxDOT) created the Driver Education and Behavior (DE&B) program.
The DE&B program seeks to alter the behavior of drivers and passengers,
by eliminating patterns and activities that contribute to traffic crashes
and the resulting deaths and injuries. Program objectives are to:
- Increase
public knowledge of traffic safety issues and Texas laws
- Emphasize
the cost to society of vehicle traffic crashes
- Achieve
a minimum of 20 percent program recall by the general public
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The
DE&B program is the most challenging aspect of TxDOT's overall traffic
safety strategy, utilizing moral persuasion to reach the full spectrum
of Texas drivers, from the youngest to the oldest. A variety of messages
and media forms are used to convince motorists and passengers to change
their attitudes and behaviors.
One element
of the DE&B program's comprehensive efforts in traffic safety is
the On the Road in Texas campaign, created in 2000. This effort
focuses specifically on the use of radio messages, to reach a diverse
portion of the population. The DE&B program uses this unique approach
to serve Texas communities with vital life-saving messages in an entertaining
and informative way.
On the
Road in Texas is a series of radio public service announcements
(PSAs), developed by TxDOT in cooperation with the Texas Department
of Public Safety (DPS). Veteran announcers, DPS troopers and subject
experts address both seasonal and general traffic safety topics each
month. The series produces twelve PSAs per month in English, and six
per month in Spanish. Among the issues addressed by the PSAs are seat
belt and child safety seat use, impaired driving, speeding, road conditions,
cellular phone use and drowsy driving.
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