An Evaluation of a Road Safety Campaign in Central Bedfordshire: Take Another Look (SMIDSY) Campaign

I McMurray and P Roberts

January 2012

1. Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You Campaign (SMIDSY)

1.1 Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You Campaign (SMIDSY)

The Sorry Mate I Didn’t See you (SMIDSY) campaign was launched at Toddington service

station on 11th May 2011. This event was undertaken by Central Bedfordshire Council and

Amey with a commitment to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety, which

aims to stabilise and reduce the number of road casualties internationally. Specifically, the

aim of the launch was to encourage drivers to be aware of motorcyclists on the roads and to

‘take another look’, with the goal to reduce motorcycle casualties on Central Bedfordshire

roads. Local organisations in attendance included members of staff from the police, fire

service and the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Advanced Motorcyclists (HBAM). Mrs

Amos-Cole, a local mother, gave her account of her son Rick, who died at age 39 on his

motorcycle in 2004. A photograph of Rick was then used as part the campaign on a new

website providing information, research and theory relating to drivers seeing bikers

(www.seeingbikers.com). Rick’s photograph was also on sun visor stickers that were

distributed to local business, and roadside posters that were displayed across Central

Bedfordshire for a six week period. Documented data of previous locations where road

collisions had occurred informed where the posters were positioned.

1.1.1 Aims

The aims to evaluate this campaign were:

To evaluate the visibility of the SMIDSY posters.

To evaluate drivers’ level of awareness of the ‘take another look’ message.

To ascertain the public’s attitudes towards the SMIDSY posters, and the impact of

them on future driving behaviours.

To offer alternative suggestions, made by the public on how to raise awareness of

motorcyclists on the roads and to reduce casualties.

1.2 Research Methods 1.2.1Research Design

In order to evaluate this campaign, a cross-sectional survey design was employed.

1.2.2 Participants

A total of 101 participants undertook a survey relating to SMIDSY (48 males and 53 females).

This was made up of a convenience sample of 60 adults interviewed nearby to where the

posters were located, such as, in Dunstable, Toddington, the A5 near Hockliffe, , Barton Le

Clay, Stotfold, Shefford, and Henlow. The participants were aged 17 to 70 with a mean age

of 37 years (standard deviation, 18).

The remaining 41 participants responded to an online questionnaire, similar to the survey

given in face-to-face interviews and included responses from the new ‘Seeing Bikers’

website (http://seekingbikers.com). The ages of those 41 participants, who completed the

online survey, also between 17-70 years old, with the mode being 26-35 years old, are

shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Age of participants from online survey

Age 17-18 19-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-70 Over 70 Total

Frequency 1 8 8 9 8 6 2 41

The types of road users that completed the face-to-face survey and online survey are shown

in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Types of Road user who completed the survey

Type of Road User Frequency Percentage Car or van 56 55.45% Passenger 15 14.85% Car and Motorbike 10 9.90% Car and Motorbike with either Pedal Cyclist and Moped Rider

7 6.93%

Car, Motorbike, Van and Lorry 5 4.95% Car and Pedal Cyclist 5 4.95% Car, Motorbike, Van and Lorry, Cyclist, Lorry, Tractor 2 1.98% Other 1 0.99% Total 101 100%

Two residents of Central Bedfordshire contacted Amey to offer their views of the campaign.

This information was passed on to the research team. No demographic details were

included, but the content has been merged into the analysis where appropriate.

1.2.3 Evaluation Materials

The survey explored whether a poster showing Rick’s face and shoulders whilst wearing a

helmet, and the words Rick (39) Died on his bike, Take another look had been seen by

drivers and motorcyclists on the roads of Central Bedfordshire. It also sought to evaluate

whether using a poster as a method of raising awareness of seeing motorcyclists had been

an effective method from a driver’s perspective.

1.3 Findings

1.3.1. Did drivers see the posters?

Approximately half of those questioned had previously seen the posters, 49 out of the total

of 101 participants (48%). This was made up of 67 different sightings (some individuals had

seen more than one poster). It must be noted that the majority of participants who had

seen the posters before, were those that were surveyed in locations near the posters: 37

out of 60 participants. This suggests that more than half of drivers saw the posters when

they drove near to them. Only 12 of the 41 who undertook the online survey had seen the

posters previously on the road. This could indicate that although those completing the

online survey drove on the roads of Central Bedfordshire, they had not been driving near to

where the posters had been located. A breakdown of where participants had seen the

poster before is shown in Table 5 below. Table 3 shows that three participants stated that

they had seen posters in areas where posters had not been displayed. These areas were

Luton, Bedford and Milton Keynes.

Table 3: Where have you seen the Rick poster before?

Where have you seen this picture before?

Frequency of Sightings

Percentage

A507 8 11.94% Across Bedfordshire 7 10.44% Leighton Buzzard 5 7.46% Toddington 5 7.46% Toddington Green/Market Square 5 7.46% Don’t know or can’t remember 5 7.46% A507 Stotfold 4 5.97% Houghton Regis 4 5.97% A5 Hockliffe 3 4.48% A507 Ampthill 3 4.48% Dunstable 3 4.48% Flitwick 3 4.48% Luton 2 2.99% A6 Bedford Road 1 1.49% Bedford 1 1.49% A507 Chicksands 1 1.49% Toddington Traffic Lights 1 1.49% White Lion Retail Park 1 1.49% Henlow 1 1.49% Clifton 1 1.49% Milton Keynes 1 1.49% Shefford 1 1.49% Baldock 1 1.49%

Total sightings 67 100%

Three participants provided a general comment questioning whether the posters were

located in the best places in order for drivers to see them. Of the participants that had seen

the poster before, three specific additional comments were recorded, relating to the poster

location. At a roundabout on the A507 one participant commented that “I found it difficult

to concentrate on the poster’s message as I was driving at the time”. Another participant

sighted the picture on the A5 near Hockliffe going 55 miles per hour said, “At first I didn’t

see the poster… thought it was just a photo ... also there were lots of trees there. Then near

the traffic lights I saw another one … and wanted to take a proper look … to see what it was

about.” The final quote was “When looking in detail you can guess the message... but

where it is positioned on the green drivers can’t slow down so they are unlikely to pick up

on the message at all.”

1.3.2. What does the poster tell you?

Participants offered a variety of responses relating to the message contained in the poster.

At the forefront was: to be aware of bikers, 24 (23.7%), and to look out for bikers, 22

(21.8%). This was followed by the recognition that Rick had died on his motorcycle at a

young age, 12 (11.9%), and that drivers should ‘take another look’, 9 (8.9%). Conversely, for

some people the message was misplaced as they thought that the picture showed a happy

face, 4 (4%), and statements attributing no blame ‘anyone can die young’, 3 (3%) and ‘it was

a blameless death’. One participant also stated that the main message was not to purchase

a motorcycle. Others mentioned specifically the role of the motorists in not seeing

motorcyclists, 3 (3%), or having to look in their wing mirrors, 2 (2%).

Table 4: What does the poster tell you? What does the picture tell you? Frequency Percentage Be aware of bikers 24 23.7% Look out for bikers 22 21.8% Rick died on his motorbike aged 39 12 11.9% Take another look 9 8.9% Happy on his bike 4 4% Car drivers think and watch out for bikes 4 4% Real people inside those crash helmets 3 3% Wearing protective clothing 3 3% Motorists didn’t see biker and he died 3 3% Think bikers 3 3% Be careful around motorbikes 2 2% Anyone can die young 3 3% Bikes not as visible as cars 2 2% Look in your wing mirror 2 2% A motorcyclist died on his bike 2 2% Don’t buy a bike 1 1% Motorbikes/roads are dangerous 1 1% As bikers not seen involved in more road accidents 1 1% Total 101 100%

1.3.3. Recalling the message from the poster.

Participants were asked to recall what they thought the message was on the poster.

A total of 61 people recalled 67 different messages. Just over half of the responses were

related to ‘Rick dying on his bike at aged 39’ (51%), where nearly a quarter, 15 (22%),

recalled the ‘take another look’ message, and 4 (6%) responses were of a ‘smiling man’.

Other responses were related to seeing bikers or the messages were not recalled.

Table 5: Can you recall the message of the poster? Can you recall the message of the poster? Frequency Percentage Rick Died on his bike at 39 34 51% Take another look 15 22% Smiling Man 4 6% Biker be seen/Be aware of bikers 3 4.5% Died at 39 3 4.5% Can’t remember 2 3% Think bikers 3 4.5% Died on his bike 1 1.5% Didn’t read text 1 1.5% Be careful 1 1.5% Total 67 100%

1.3.4. Awareness, effectiveness and impact of the poster.

When participants were asked ‘do you feel that this poster has raised your awareness of

seeing bikers,’ 51 (50%) responded yes, 48 (48%) responded no and 2 (2%) people did not

answer this question. Following on from this, when asked “how effective do you think this

campaign has been in raising awareness of seeing bikers” nearly half stated that it had been

effective, 45 (45%), with 34 (34%) going for the middle ground of being neither effective or

ineffective, with 22 (21%) of the sample as viewing the campaign as being ineffective of

raising awareness of seeing bikers.

Table 6: How effective do you think this campaign has been in raising awareness of seeing bikers?

Effective Neither effective or ineffective Ineffective Total

45

34

22

101

A total of 59 (58%) people felt that the poster did have an impact on them, with 40 (40%)

stating that it did not while 2 people (2%) did not respond. Although more than half of the

sample stated the picture did have an impact on them, 52 (51%) of all participants

suggested that this poster would not reduce motorcycle casualties.

Table 7: Do you think the Rick poster will reduce motorcycle casualties and fatalities?

Yes No Don’t know/ Not sure

Maybe/Possibly/ Hopefully

Total

28

52 11

10 101

People offered a variety of responses as to why they considered the poster would help, or

not, to reduce bike casualties and fatalities. Due to the nature of the responses being long

comments; a thematic analysis was undertaken (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Each of the

participants’ responses was read line by line by two of the research team to produce 4 inter-

related themes that summarised the data. See Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Would the poster help to reduce casualties and fatalities?

Is this the correct picture for the poster?

A number of respondents questioned the picture that had been used on the poster. Some

respondents felt that the picture portraying a man with a smile on his face may have

appeared to be too friendly or happy. Indeed one individual thought it was a poster to

celebrate someone’s birthday. Another person stated that the picture and the text were

incompatible with each other as “the words don’t relate to the picture (i.e. happy guy but

depressing text), therefore sends mixed messages”. The photograph did have some

emotional significance reminding one person of “someone you might know down the road”.

Others suggested that it might not reduce casualties and fatalities because it was not a

“gory” enough picture. Whilst some questioned the relationship between the man and

being a motorcycle rider, suggesting he may have been a delivery van driver: “Not showing

me he died in a bike accident – no symbolic relevance with a bike crash”. Two participants

considered that, knowing Rick had died as the result of a traffic incident, was upsetting.

Targeted at the correct audience?

An accompanying theme seemed to question the validity of the target audience of the

poster. Twelve people commented that they were motorcyclists or a member of their

family was. These participants stated that once you or one of your family members became

Would the poster help to reduce casualties and

fatalities or not?

Correct picture?

Correct Position?

Short term impact

Any message better than no

message

a motorcyclist it made them more aware of safety issues that riders faced, creating a change

of attitude towards riders. Therefore this poster reinforced the ideas that they already had

and had some relevance in their lives, as the following quote shows “Yes, my dad is a biker

and nearly died in a collision so I have awareness of the dangers”.

For those that did not ride a motorbike or did not have a rider in their family it was unclear

at whom the poster was supposed to be targeted. By having such a general picture on the

poster, which was viewed as similar to other roadside posters, some participants thought

that people would be “blasé” about the poster because it was not clear whom the poster

was aimed at. Rather than providing specific information, it was just “visual noise”. Many

participants felt that the poster should not be targeted at drivers, but should instead be

targeted at riders, as they considered riders were to blame for collisions due to driving too

fast on the roads. Indeed, one person contacted the Amey office to state their anger at the

cost of this campaign and at whom it was targeted: “Seeing Motorcyclists campaign is a

waste of tax payers’ money. The A600 from Bedford to Shefford is always a danger as

motorcyclists speed along this road, overtake vehicles and cut cars up. The police should

visit this road regularly to see the issues here. People driving cars are always blamed but

they shouldn't be when motorcyclists are not being careful”.

Instant message equals a short term impact

Some respondents stated that motorists did not necessarily pay attention to detailed

posters whilst driving. Therefore it would require a passenger to alert a driver to take care

of motorcyclists, to watch their speed, or to be more vigilant for motorcyclists when pulling

out at junctions or turning corners. Other respondents noted that as the poster was a

visual image a driver would only have time to briefly glance at it, so providing a momentary

impact. However, this would not necessarily change long term attitudes and driving

behaviour as the following quote shows. “For the short term it would because of the

message (he died at 39 years old). However, in the long term one may forget the message

and be less careful due to traffic or other factors. I feel the message and the image wasn't

strong enough to remain in my long term memory.”

It was suggested by one respondent that attempting to reduce casualties was a more

complex process and an education programme or similar would have a more lasting impact.

Any message might be better than no message

In contrast other respondents suggested that this type of campaign should be effective in

raising awareness, and whilst for some people it would not be effective for others there

would be an impact. Therefore all advertising, no matter how small, would be helpful.

Twelve people mentioned that “hopefully” the campaign would raise awareness indicating a

lack of uncertainty, attributing the reduction of causalities and fatalities more to ‘luck’ than

‘design’ with quotes such as “Hopefully reduce fatalities” and “Hope people will look at the

poster and it will register what it is all about”.

1.3.5. Current and Future Driving Behaviour Participants were asked to reflect on their driving behaviour in terms of whether they

considered they saw motorcyclists when they were driving. A total of 45 people answered

this question: 41 stated that yes, they did see motorcyclists when they were driving (91% of

those that responded), 2 stated no (4.5%), and 2 said sometimes (4.5%). Two followed up

their ‘yes’ answers with “unless the bikes are going too fast and come out of nowhere”.

After being shown the poster participants were asked if their driving behaviour would

change. A total of 32 (32%) individuals said it would change their behaviour, 54 (53%) said

it wouldn’t, 4 (4%) indicated that it might. There were no responses from 11 (11%) people

as shown in Table 8.

Table 8: Current and Future driving behaviour in relation to motorcyclists

Yes No Sometimes/Maybe Not responded

Do you currently see bikers

41 2 2 56

Will your behaviour change after seeing the poster?

32 54 4 11

Despite the fact that more people answered ‘yes’ to ‘do you currently see bikers’, the

questions are not completely comparable but provide an indication that after seeing the

poster there would be some change in behaviour.

Nineteen participants provided further comments; a summary of the comments is shown in

Table 9 below. All of those that said ‘no’ to ‘do you currently see bikers’ commented that

they were already safe drivers. It was interesting to note that one individual felt that the

evaluation itself had raised their awareness.

Table 9: Will your driving behaviour change in relation to motorcyclists, example of comments? Yes No Maybe I'll be more aware at junctions, overtaking and not making assumptions

As I’m a safe driver anyway (always aware of my surroundings), I’m also aware of bikers as I have a bike as I’m a safe driver anyway (always aware of my surroundings), I’m also aware of bikers as I have a bike

Yes slightly but only because of the questionnaire not the poster. The questionnaire has made me think about the issues related to road safety and to be more aware of bikers

I’ll be more alert No I feel I already am cautious with cyclists

I think I am already careful

Yes I will be more attentive and look out for bikes

I hope I'm already at a good level of awareness - so my behaviour doesn't need to improve.

1.3.6. Participants ideas for future campaigns

Respondents offered a range of ideas that they thought might be useful ways that

Central Bedfordshire Council and Amey could adopt to assist in reducing casualties in

the future. See Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Suggestions for Future SMIDSY Campaigns

The following quotes provide a detailed explanation of some of the themes.

“I attended a speed awareness course the other day because of being caught by a camera,

and this has changed my attitude when driving, dramatically. Maybe some of the methods

used could be used. Knowing the facts about speed and number of bike fatalities and the

reasons behind the bike fatalities would make people more aware, and practical ways they

can be more aware of bike riders and prevent accidents”.

“It needs to be clear who their advertising material is aimed at (i.e., who the audience is)

and as a result should place any advertising campaigns in the right places for example on

parking meters or at pedestrian/zebra crossings so that drivers have enough time to take in

the full message without being a danger to others on the road; by carrying out thorough

highway maintenance – i.e., fill in pot holes etc. which are dangerous for both cyclists and

motorbike users; they need to ensure that both car drivers and motorbike users are aware

of each other and show respect when driving”

Campaign

Road Maintenance

Motorbike lanes 7

Bikers wear something more

noticeable 5

Pot Holes 4

Signs at junctions 3

Slower speeds 7

Other

Too many posters

2

Stricter Penalities

1

Plaques of deaths in hot spots 1

Target Population

Bikers

8

Young dirvers 2

Drivers 1

Type of Adverstising Campaign

Shocking/powerful/photos of real incicidents 10

Electronic Signage 3

TV commerical

5

Radio 3

website/information sheets with

statistics 3

Think bike 3

Changes to learning to drive

Learn to drive a motor bike 6

Information about motorbikes when

having driving lessons 11

Driver take refresher

test/education 3

Change the driving test 4

advanced bike training 5

Increase age you can drive 1

“All drivers should have to ride a bike on the road as part of their car test.”

“They spend too much money on these silly bus signs with the electrical times. What a

waste of money. The poster in Toddington is in the wrong place. Too near those trees, cars

go round that corner too fast, they don’t stop there”.

1.4 Conclusions

The conclusions relating to each of aims of the evaluation of the SMISDY campaign are

considered below.

1.4.1 Aim: To evaluate the visibility of the SMIDSY posters.

The posters were seen by slightly under half of those questioned which highlights that the

posters had good visibility. That said, according to responses from the participants, the

location of some of the posters was brought into to question as some appeared to be have

been placed where it is was difficult to see what the main message was whilst driving. This

would seem to be a curtail point for the success of the campaign. In both the face-to-face

survey, and the online survey, participants were at some point prompted to look at a copy

of the poster. An alternative method used in public education campaigns is to question

whether people have seen posters in a specified location before the campaign starts and

then again afterwards, to ascertain with more certainty that individuals had in fact seen the

posters. Etter and Laszio (2004) questioned whether people had seen smoking prevention

posters before a poster campaign and then again after the posters had been displayed, and

found that there was a significant difference in favour of seeing the poster after they had

been displayed.

1.4.2 Aim: To evaluate drivers’ level of awareness of the ‘take another look’ message.

In terms of raising public awareness of motorbike riders, the SMIDSY campaign was

successful. Half of those sampled stated that seeing the poster had raised their awareness.

Also, when prompted to find out what they perceived the main message of the poster was,

two thirds provided answers which were indicative of looking and thinking about riders

whilst driving.

1.4.3 Aim: To ascertain the public’s attitudes towards the SMIDSY posters and the impact

of them on future driving behaviours.

Although the posters had raised awareness of bikers for many participants, in terms of

changing attitudes towards riders the SMIDSY posters may have only started to address this

change. Two thirds of the sample stated that the posters did have an impact on them but

half stated that it would not change driving behaviours. Some of the responses implied that

it was not necessarily drivers whose behaviour needed to change, but that campaigns

should be targeted at riders, as many drivers attributed incidents involving riders to the

riders themselves. Crundall, Clarke, Ward and Bartle (2008) undertook a review of the

literature relating to car driver skills and attitudes towards motorcycle safety. They noted

that there are a variety of variables that influence a car colliding with a motorcycle,

including top-down processes (experiences, attitudes and skills of the driver) along with

bottom-up processes (the visual and cognitive processes at work within each individual) and

therefore it makes it difficult to measure the interaction of these variables. However, there

is some evidence that those drivers who are also riders have more experiences as a rider

which impacts upon both top-down and bottom-up processes (Crundall, Clarke, Ward and

Bartle, 2008). Indeed, Brooks and Guppy (1990) found that family members of riders had

better observations and were less likely to be involved in a collision than drivers who did

not, which supports the qualitative findings presented above.

1.4.4 Aim: To offer alternative suggestions, made by the public, on how to raise awareness

of motorcyclists on the roads and to reduce casualties.

The public responses to ideas for future campaigns were varied. However, the overarching

themes were to improve new drivers’, more experienced drivers’ and motorcyclists’

knowledge through education and training; and to have different media campaigns,

particularly campaigns that had a dramatic element. Although, many participants indicated

that this might work, contemporary research has questioned whether more dramatic

pictures make a difference to driving behaviour. Other suggestions included maintaining

roads, introducing bike lanes and targeted campaigns, specifically for motorcycle riders and

younger drivers.

1.4 Recommendations

To continue to display roadside posters for similar campaigns in the future.

For consideration before conducting a similar campaign in the future:

o Further evaluate the effectiveness of different pictures for posters.

o To consider before the start of the poster campaign, an unprompted face-to-

face survey to ask individuals if they had seen the posters. Following this an

unprompted survey during/after poster has been displayed.

To continue to consider the location of the posters, to ensure that drivers are

stationary or driving sufficiently slowly to read them.

To explore the statistics of casualties and fatalities of where the posters have been

placed, in comparison to other locations where the posters have not been placed.

To consider educational initiatives to raise awareness to vehicle drivers about riders’

safety.

Participants suggested that there should be more motorcycle awareness with driving

schools. Therefore, we recommend continuing to foster links with local driving and

riding instructors, so that knowledge and skills can continue to be shared and

cascaded to learner drivers and riders.