AN EXPERIMENT IN THE USE OF BROADCAST MEDIA IN HIGHWAY SAFETY. SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION IN HIGHWAY SAFETY

A BROADCAST MEDIA CAMPAIGN WAS DEVELOPED IN THE SPRING OF 1971. BROADCAST MATERIALS, SELECTED IN PART ON THE BASIS OF REVIEWS BY EXPERT AND LAY PANELS, WERE DISTRIBUTED TO SELECTED RADIO AND TV STATIONS FOR SUBSEQUENT BROADCAST AS 'PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS (PSA'S)'. UNOBTRUSIVE OBSERVATIONS OF SEAT BELT USAGE WERE MADE IN TWO DEMOGRAPHICALLY-MATCHED COMMUNITIES, MODESTO AND SALINAS, CALIFORNIA, IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE CAMPAIGN (2 WEEKS), DURING THE CAMPAIGN (5 WEEKS), AND IMMEDIATELY SUBSEQUENT TO THE CAMPAIGN (4 WEEKS). COMMUNITY ATTITUDES TOWARDS SAFETY BELTS WERE DETERMINED THROUGH TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS. MEASUREMENTS WERE ALSO MADE IN A CONTROL COMMUNITY, BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA, IN WHICH NO MATERIALS WERE BROADCAST. ON THE BASIS OF OVER 22,000 VEHICLE OBSERVATIONS (28,000 OCCUPANTS) AND 2,000 TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS, IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE PSA'S HAVE HAD LITTLE SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON SAFETY BELT USAGE OR RELATED ATTITUDES. /AUTHOR/

• Corporate Authors:

  University of Southern California, Los Angeles

  Los Angeles, CA  United States  90089
• Publication Date: 1971-12

Media Info

• Pagination: 140 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Drivers; Manual safety belts; Radio; Television
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221891
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Rept
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 25 1973 12:00AM