|
Summary of the Top 11 Findings and Implications for
Program Development A large amount of information was collected during the focus groups and the one-on-one discussions and is presented in the full report. However, several key findings from the research stand out and are presented below along with their implications for program development. Drinking and driving and aggressive and reckless driving were consistently identified as significant traffic safety problems across all focus groups regardless of age, gender, or location. Although drinking and driving was regularly cited as a top area of concern, many participants felt that Black people are not the cause of the problem. Rather, participants cited White drivers as the ones who are drinking and driving. Also, participants used definitions of the term "drinking and driving" that varied widely. Messages to Black communities must show the relevance of drinking and driving as a behavioral issue rather than an outside risk. Messages must also clarify the definition of drinking and driving, and emphasize the risks. There was a strong belief at all sites that racial profiling is a serious problem and an ongoing practice of law enforcement. In particular, Black males felt that there was little that they can do to protect themselves from being victims of this practice. While most were able to separate the problem of racial profiling from the benefits of law enforcement, members of law enforcement were not seen as desirable leaders in local traffic safety efforts. Law enforcement agencies must address this issue before they can become valuable partners in developing traffic safety programs for Black communities. In light of concerns about racial profiling, program designers should be sensitive in their selection of messages and messengers. Seat belt use among Blacks is inconsistent, with part-time use prevalent regardless of the community and the age of the participant. Most respondents believed seat belts have a positive safety benefit. Most participants also said that they most frequently wear seat belts in situations that they view as risky, such as traveling long distances, in poor weather conditions, and when riding with young children. Interestingly, seat belt use was also commonly seen as a reflection on the ability of the driver; putting on a seat belt was often seen as a statement of no confidence in the driver's ability, whether the driver is oneself or another. There was little recognition of the unpredictable nature of some crashes and that they could occur in good and bad weather, on long or short trips, or due to another driver's error. Implications for Targeted Program Development Programs should emphasize the unpreventable and unpredictable risk involved when drivers do not buckle up, and the need to buckle up each and every time a person drives or rides in a vehicle. For younger participants, especially males, there was a strong relationship between driving and being "cool" (the term "cool" was used throughout the country.) Often, young male participants said that when they drive or ride in a vehicle, they are "styling and profiling" in an attempt to look "cool." ("Styling and profiling" is an attempt to show off or to try to make an impression). Use of seat belts was not viewed as "cool" by the majority of young male participants. Reversing this perception among young Black males is important to increasing belt use, and may have a positive effect on seat belt use for their passengers, as well. If parents responded that they did not wear seat belts, they still wanted to ensure the safety of their children by placing them in child restraints. Nonuse of safety seats was generally attributed to either economic constraints or indifference to safety. For young men, child seats were generally not seen as a high priority, and warranted minimal investment of time and money. Awareness of booster seats was mixed, and most people had only a general knowledge of when a child should use a booster seat. More general education needs to be provided to clarify the proper use of safety seats and booster seats. Promoting the use of child safety seat checkups may have a high payoff as well. The value and need for safety seats needs to be emphasized to young fathers. Blacks have many of the same reasons for not wearing seat belts as the general population, such as discomfort, wrinkling clothes, and simply forgetting. However, most Blacks support seat belt laws, even if they don't consistently wear seat belts and believe that they are more likely to be pulled over for nonuse of seat belts than White drivers. The content of existing general messages needs to be shared with and tailored to Black audiences, using more culturally relevant themes, images, language, and media vehicles. In other words, how the message is delivered should be considered, but in many cases the message itself is equally relevant to Black or White target markets. Local health and medical providers, Black religious leaders, and families were most often identified as the most trusted groups to lead traffic safety efforts in the selected counties. Churches and schools are trusted venues. However, no group or venue enjoyed unanimous support. These trusted sources should be incorporated into programs, while also recognizing that no single source is universally trusted and thus parallel messages with different messengers may be warranted. The use of religious leaders should be localized and incorporated into appropriate program elements. Program designers should consult with their local community contacts before selecting messengers. Blacks in the selected communities for this study were receptive to, and supportive of, positive, realistic messages. Messages should portray truthful, ordinary people in realistic situations. Participants strongly believe it is essential to have Blacks represented in messages and ads that target Black men, women, teens, or seniors. Messages and ads should portray ordinary people in believable situations. For the most part, participants were not interested in "blood and guts" images and scenes. Including Black people in the messages is important in attracting the attention of Black audiences. When compared to White communities, many participants believed that Black communities have significantly inferior street systems in design, construction, and maintenance.
Messages should forthrightly portray infrastructure in keeping with the public's perceptions, to ensure that messages are perceived as honest, "above board," and well received. Participants are suspicious of safety statistics that do not match their perceptions of the Black community's opinions or behavior. Minimize use of statistics in safety messages targeting Blacks, or make efforts in the message to reinforce the validity of the data as part of a social norming message. There was a high level of interest and concern about pedestrian issues. Participants had different opinions on issues such as jaywalking and the lack of sidewalks, depending on their geographic region. Participants consistently said that pedestrians wearing dark clothing, and walking along or across roads at night, present dangerous challenges for motorists. Better education is needed in the area of pedestrian safety, especially how to cross streets. These educational efforts need to be targeted to the unique urban or rural environments in local areas, and designed with deference to the other program implications cited earlier with regard to message development and delivery. When considering target audiences for program development, it is important to heed one participants statement that "there are two ways to change: by choice or by force." This comment sums up the feelings of many, particularly older, participants about a resistance to forced change. Many participants emphasized that messages should target changing the community's mindset about the benefits of traffic safety, rather than forcing the changes through threats, presumably enforcement. |
||||||
|
|
||||||