“Where Have I Heard It?” Assessing the Recall of Traffic Safety Campaigns in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

Although traffic crashes are the eighth leading cause of death in the world, and are linked to vehicle and infrastructure-related factors, crash-related fatality rates are much higher in low-income countries. Particularly, the Dominican Republic is the country with the highest accident rate in the whole American continent. Therefore, in the past few years, public agencies have been developing different measures aimed at reducing traffic fatalities, including road safety campaigns. The aim of the present study was to assess the recalling of such campaigns among the Dominican population, which may serve as an additional indicator to evaluate their effectiveness in this and other countries of the region presenting similar traffic safety issues. For this cross-sectional study, a nationwide sample composed of 1260 people (50% males and 50% females) with a mean age of 39.3 years was used. The data were collected through personal interviews. Overall, the recall of traffic safety campaigns was found to be very low (9%); male drivers who were employed, possessed a driver’s license and habitually drove were the ones who could commonly remember these campaigns. The results of this study suggest that further evaluation and follow-up could help to maximize the impact of future traffic campaigns and advertisements in the Dominican Republic, as well as in other emerging countries of the region with similar characteristics. Further, key segments of the population such as the female, young, less formally educated and non-driving populations should be also targeted for further actions in this regard.

Citizens’ Perceptions in Relation to Transport Systems and Infrastructures: A Nationwide Study in the Dominican Republic

“…In the Dominican Republic, they are a tremendously reduced road group. In fact, the latest data indicate that only 1% use bicycles on a daily basis [25]. In countries such as Denmark, the United Kingdom, or Australia, infrastructure improvement for cyclists led to a substantial increase in this type of user [44,45].…”

“…In addition, it should be noted that these types of actions are the ones in which the most significant differences are found according to gender, with females being the ones who prioritize them the most. This is logical given the dynamics of displacement in the country, where there are practically no women drivers [25]. Therefore, they especially demand conditions that are more appropriate to the characteristics of their trips [27].…”

“…In addition, they have the problem that, even if they do not want to use any particular transport, they are often forced to do so because they have no other travel options [62]. This occurs especially in countries such as the Dominican Republic, where it is very rare to find women drivers [25]. Harassment in transportation is a common phenomenon worldwide, so in recent years specific actions have been developed to reduce the insecurity of female users [63]: from basic measures such as the installation of security cameras [64] or education and social awareness campaigns [65] to major actions such as "pink" vehicles or cars for females only [66], or specific mobile applications [67].…”

“…Additionally, in recent years national and local authorities have tried to promote sustainable transport through communication campaigns, but they have not been assessed as very effective [25]. Data from 2018 indicate that only 21% travel by foot regularly, 36% by public transport, and less than 1% make regular trips by bicycle [26].…”

Vehicle and Traffic Safety

“…The use of such tools in research can be found in [21,27]. The study [17] was slightly different, as the authors analyzed the state of road traffic safety in a specific country and the impact of non-technical methods on shaping this state.…”