THE FIRST PROBLEM which confronts most road safety propaganda campaigns is the fact that, through coupling the desirable way of behaving with "safe" or "correct" behaviour, they approach the road-user in a negative way. They do this firstly because the road-user is being faced with the possibility of being involved in an accident, and secondly because it is being put to him that his behaviour is open to improvement, even though he may have been involved in no or very few traffic accidents.
The probability, per mile travelled, of being involved in an accident is, after all, very low and consequently so is the personal experience of driving danger. This detracts from the credibility of the propaganda.
Most drivers, moreover, rate themselves as of more than average ability where (safe) driving is concerned, so that the only occasion on which they actually did have an accident will sooner be blamed on the stupidity of other road-users than on wrong driving behaviour on their own part.
The result will be that road safety propaganda may be looked upon as quite right and proper, but then as applying to all the other drivers. The second problem with safety propaganda is that it is generally aimed at influencing the "attitude" towards a certain way of behaviour or possibilities of behaviour. Attitudes and behaviour cannot, however, be regarded as one and the same thing; a person can agree entirely with statements about the undesirability of a certain line of behaviour (e.g. because this incurs risks) and yet still act in this very way himself. Faverge (1967) gives striking examples of this in the observance of safety rules by industrial workers.
The reverse, too, can happen--the desired behaviour is practised without it necessarily stemming from a positive attitude. Enquiry as a rule then seems to reveal a positive attitude, but this may have sprung from the practising of the required behaviour and will thus have played no part in the proper behaviour coming about.
Before coming to any conclusion as to the value of propaganda as a means of influencing driving behaviour (and, consequently, road safety) we shall first examine the empirical findings from research on the effects of road safety propaganda paying special attention to accident data.
2. THE EFFECT OF ROAD SAFETY PROPAGANDA
Propaganda as a means of influencing driving behaviour has a number of aspects, involving both the themes stressed and the method of approach. The approach may be "mass" 127