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ITD's Office of Communication partnering with Office of Highway Safety
to "move dial" on driver behavior, effective outreach

The Office of Highway Safety and the Office of Communication are working on bringing consistency to future distracted driving messages. The goal is to create campaigns that focus on making actual behavioral changes versus just creating awareness.

You’ve seen the messages all over – “Drive Safe. Belts On,” “Just Drive,” “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” – the Office of Highway Safety has doggedly reached out through public-awareness campaigns with the mission to make Idaho roads safer.

The idea is to create programs that reach directly into the community on a consistent basis, versus the typical paid-media-only approach. The team uses data from scientific surveys combined with behavioral methodology to craft new campaigns and messages with the aim to affect driver behavior.

“We used to sit around the table and come up with clever messages that we felt Idahoans wanted to hear,” said Highway Safety Manager John Tomlinson. “Now, we are relying on behavioral science to craft positive messages that people can relate to, with the ultimate outcome of changed behavior. We don’t want to just raise awareness; we want to move the dial on reducing fatalities and serious injuries.”

Both offices take this job seriously. In Idaho, a traffic crash occurs every 22 minutes. Sadly, there is a traffic-related fatality every 40 hours in the Gem State.

“Too many Idaho families, neighbors and communities are being affected by the tragic loss of life on Idaho roads,” said Tomlinson. “The choices we make before we get behind the wheel and while driving are what will save lives.”

By combining the specialization of program specialists in OHS and the communication expertise of the OC, the coalition plans to build new brands and bring about behavioral change in Idaho drivers.

“We haven’t moved the dial enough with traditional methods," Tomlinson added. "The data shows that there are a lot of misconceptions. Our goal is to craft programs that reach out directly to combat those misconceptions through families, workplaces and community leaders.”

The first project of these combined groups will be a pilot project in April focusing on distracted driving. But watch out for more messages covering seat belt use, impaired driving, and lane departure.