Effect evaluation of a road safety education program based on victim testimonials in high schools in Belgium

Abstract

For several decades policy makers worldwide have experimented with testimonials as a strategy to promote road safety supportive views in a wide variety of target populations such as recidivists and students. In its basic format, a (relative of) a victim or an offender brings a personal testimonial of what it is to experience a traffic accident. The underlying idea is that such a testimonial will emotionally affect participants, thereby stimulating them to cognitively reflect upon their own behavior and responsibility as a road user. Unfortunately, empirical literature on the effectiveness of this strategy is rather scarce and inconsistent. This study investigated the effect of a large-scale program with victim testimonials for high schools in Belgium on five socio-cognitive and behavioral variables drawn from the Theory of Planned Behavior (i.e., attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, behavioral intention and behavior). Moreover, this study investigated program effects on participants' cognitive and emotional estate and whether this influences the program's impact on socio-cognitive and behavioral variables. Our test sample included 1362 students, who were assigned to a baseline - follow-up group and a post-test - follow-up group. We questioned both groups, a first time (just before or after session attendance) on paper, and a second time (two months after session attendance) online. Results indicate the program had, both immediate and two months after attendance, small to medium positive effects on most socio-cognitive and behavioral variables. However, effects depended on participants' demographic profile, their baseline values on the socio-cognitive and behavioral variables, and the degree to which they were cognitively/emotionally affected by the program. We discuss the practical implications of these findings and formulate recommendations for the development of future interventions based on victim testimonials.

Evaluation of a Road Safety Education Program Based on Driving Under Influence and Traffic Risks for Higher Secondary School Students in Belgium

“…An effect evaluation measures the effect of the program in the target population by assessing the progress in the outcomes that the program set to achieve. The effect evaluation is performed either by observing behavior in a naturalistic setting [44], by checking the involvement of educated/trained participants in traffic accidents [45], or by investigating the change in the socio-cognitive and behavioral variables [46]. In this study, we investigated the change in socio-cognitive variables.…”

“…The TPB is one of the empirically most supported behavioral theories and has been validated in diverse research domains [54,55]. The TPB model has been used to evaluate road safety education programs to see changes in socio-cognitive variables because of the intervention [46,53,56]. Studies conducted in traffic safety have shown TPB to effectively explain intention to DUI [7,57], speeding [58,59], distractions [60,61] and other risk behaviors.…”

Behavioral Health at School: Do Three Competences in Road Safety Education Impact the Protective Road Behaviors of Spanish Children?

“…In other words, Education for Road Safety is more effective when there are consistent interventions on both socio-cognitive and behavioral issues (instead of isolated or single actions). This is especially true whenever the profile of their beneficiaries in terms of, e.g., age, gender and educational level are considered, in order to provide contents prone to be properly understood and applicable to a population's daily road-related activities, actual behaviors and potentially involved stakeholders, such as their parents and peers [33].…”

“…Recent evidence shows how the strengthening and promotion of safe (or protective) road behaviors among young road users can be substantially reinforced by means of different interventions and strategies related to Education in Road Safety (RSE) [10,16,33]; this is especially true if we consider that, even though young users' primary role on the road is that of pedestrians, they get progressively involved in driving tasks by using small (nonmotorized) vehicles such as bicycles and scooters. This represents, in most cases, a systematic transition towards the role of driver, which implies, in most countries, the necessity of attending road training and education programs provided by driving schools [13,36,39,40].…”

Determinants and Stakeholders Influencing Children’s Road Safety Education

“…The studies shown that one should act from both sides if we are to succeed in this type of education [36]. As well, it has been used other complimentary strategies in the road educational programs, such as the testimony of the victims, although it has not reached conclusive results about its effectiveness [37]. Road education in the classroom, at school, is (however) the most used strategy in the education in this field.…”