The following description was taken from Road Empathy: Understanding and Evaluating Campaigns for Behaviour Change in Young Drivers and Vulnerable Road Users by Swinburne University of Technology :
Road safety campaigns account for a significant proportion of government road safety spending. Many of these campaigns use universal communication principles to communicate and resonate with a broad target audience. This project involves developing a research-informed behaviour change road safety campaign targeting young (18–25-year-old) drivers in the ACT. The research
employs behaviour change conceptual frameworks to better understand this demographic. The findings of this study will enable designers and agencies to develop evidence-based road safety campaigns and lead to further research and studies.
The years between 18 and 25 are critical, as many young people transition from being vulnerable road users (VRUs)—pedestrians or cyclists—to drivers or motorcyclists. While this demographic will continue to be VRUs, they learn new behaviours and form new perceptions about VRUs as they commence driving. This study examines the perceptions and opinions of 18–25-year-olds in relation to road safety from the perspective of being both a driver and VRU.
This report focuses on the findings from both Stage 1 (user-centred design (UCD) workshops and eye-tracking) and Stage 2 (UCD workshops). This report was completed later than anticipated due to COVID-19 restrictions, which extended the time needed to recruit participants and revise research activities. Nonetheless, the project has generated valuable insights into this unique target audience.
A well-designed, considered, and impactful road safety campaign can be the catalyst for meaningful behavioural change (Robertson & Pashley, n.d.). This is recognised in many countries, particularly Australia, where federal and state governments budgeted $2 billion for road safety campaign initiatives in 2020–21 (Department of Infrastructure Transport Regional Development and
communications, 2021).
Young drivers aged 17–25 years have relatively high involvement in risk-taking behaviours (Kaye et al.,
2016) and a risk of accident involvement in the first months of teenage licensure four times higher than that of other drivers (Simons-Morton et al., 2015). Inexperience and exuberance contribute to young road users being a high-risk demographic (Wang et al., 2010). Thus, they are a prime target for road safety behaviour change campaigns.