Please describe the main road safety challenges/problems you have addressed or are addressing.
In 2020, 108.000 drivers were caught using their smartphone while driving on the Belgian roads. That is 300 people each day! Other research has indicated that 26% of the Belgians read or send messages while driving, which is higher than the European average (22%). When reading or writing a message, drivers look down to their phone 40 to 60%, and this distraction results in a danger that is higher than when your blood alcohol percentage is 0,8.
What are your objectives?
To encourage drivers to ignore their phone while driving
To inform drivers about the risks of distraction
Always Alert (Altijd Alert / Toujours Attentif) has the goal to encourage drivers to ignore their phone while driving. We focussed on sending a positive message, rewarding them for their good behaviour in stead of focussing on the bad. The slogan "Car in, GSM off" (Wagen in, gsm uit / Volant en main, gsm eteint) is short and catchy in order to stay in the heads of people longer.
It can be hard to target young adults with a marketing campaign. Therefore, we collaborated with olympic gymnast Nina Derwael. Nina, who is a young adult herself and has a large online following, is an example for many young drivers. In a video, she answers a call while doing her excersise and crashes on the floor. A phone should not be used when you need to concentrate, not in the gym and not in the car.
This video was combined with a radio spot and a social media campaign. To launch the campaign, we organised a press conference where Nina had to drive on a race track while texting. She crashed multiple times, showing that the combination is not a good idea.
The campaign was developed in collaboration with Baloise Insurance.
Evaluation
What has been the effect of the activities?
- Number of journalists present at press conference
- Number of articles in newspapers
- Number of interviews on the radio
- Statistics of the radio campaign
- Statistics of the tv campaign
- Statistics of the social media campaign
How have you shared information about your project and its results?
- Newspapers
- Radio
- TV
- Social media
How many people did you reach/have you reached?
Is there a plan for continuing these activities in the coming years?
In the autumn of 2022, a new wave of the campaign will start.
Who carried/carries out the evaluation activities?
External evaluation
Internal evaluation
When did/will you carry out the evaluation?
Please describe the evaluation tools you use (i.e. surveys, interviews, focus groups, etc.)