– By David Brown –
Fleet News recently went to a road safety event which was organized by Ian Luff’s Drive to Survive organisation.
The message was simple; we have to take personal responsibility for road safety, we cannot just blame the road, the weather or the government.
The message is a good one but to be effective we must make sure we personlise it to individuals. This applies as much to the people working within organisations in fleet vehicles as it does to private individuals.
One of the presentations at the event was from a young man named Jarryd, who is in his late twenties and who had a serious accident ten years ago that left him brain damaged. His first message was that it was his fault and the second point was that his rehabilitation was extremely hard work. But his message did finish on a very positive note as he spoke of how he remained determined and positive and how, with the help of others around him, he has achieved a good life. The power of positive thinking can clearly have very encouraging results.
We have to be careful that we do not mix the messages.
Jarryd was a very well presented young man with an attractive wife who gets to stand in front of people and give a positive message. But the message must remain that prevention is better than cure.
The need to personalise the message is critical.
You can write, print and display OH&S policies ad nauseam. You can lecture your staff about the need to drive safely but unless they personally relate to the message and what they are doing, then you are unlikely to get improved results.
Research has shown that to lecture young people that they may kill themselves on the road does not, typically, produce safer driving. This is especially the case with males. Further research has shown that if you tell them that they might kill their brother, sister, partner or friend, then that can have an impact on the way they drive.
If you show ‘shock-horror’ pictures most people think that it is terrible but it does not apply to them.
If you lecture people they tend to tune out and not relate the warning to themselves. If you encourage them to identify a personal perspective then they are more likely to change their behaviour.
Recent community advertising has focused on confronting a driver by comparing the number of people killed with the size of their very extended family and friends. The message is that if this was their family members being killed then we would personally do all that we could to try and stop it happening.
Road safety use to be about giving stern lectures with vague messages about “driving safely”. It is much more effective to get into the headspace of drivers, to discuss with them the specifics of when they are at their most dangerous and what they must do to avoid these situations.
Some years ago a pivotal study in the Swedish Telecom organisation showed that getting people to regularly discuss road safety issues with their peers, produced some of the most constructive results.
Fleet management is becoming more expansive in its requirements, including a greater focus on the personal well being of your staff which includes the driving they do for the organisation. Some hard rules are essential, such as the law against texting while driving. But we also have to engage people to consider their specific actions and the possible consequences to other people as a constructive way to reduce the tragedy of road crashes.
