Keeping people safe - the first line of defence is yourself...

Whatever kind of trailer you’re towing, Safe T Signs mean Safe Towing! Be seen and be safe when you emerge from junctions or roundabouts, and when you are towing in the dark.

Buy Safe T Signs from our website here:  http://www.safetowing.co.uk/buy-now.htm

Over the last week or so I've been mulling over how we can help people be safe by promoting them to use Safe T-Sign. 


Word on the street
I had a conversation with someone in the towing industry last October and I was very struck by what he said. 

First he said "there's no such thing as a bad safety product". 

The other thing he said was "most people understand the point of safety products, but they don't want to use them themselves - it's inconvenient.  Take the mirrors I use when I two my caravan, I hate them.  I know why I have them, I understand what they're for, but I wouldn't use them if it wasn't the law."

Then a month or so later I spoke to someone else in the road safety sector.  He was keen to say that people use road safety products when they're mandated.  Someone else needs to tell them to, tell them there's a benefit or else just that they must do it, even where individuals can see the benefit for themselves.


Attitudes to road safety
The Department for Transport had a literature review done in September 2010 on attitudes to road user safety Road Safety Research Report No. 112, Understanding Public Attitudes to Road-User Safety – Literature Review: Final Report, September 2012


The findings include:

·    There is the perception among individuals that it's ‘other’ drivers and ‘other pedestrians’, not themselves, that are the risk.

·    Safety concerns centre on the safety of other drivers rather than drivers’ own behaviour.

·    Reasons for speeding linked to attitudes include:

o   speeding because other drivers do so;

o   perceiving the speed limit as too low;

o   a belief that they will not be caught by the police for speeding;

o   not knowing they were speeding;

o   a belief that speeding is not that dangerous; and

o   views that link speeding to positive connotations.

·    Both driving too fast and too slow are linked to a perception of a dangerous driver. Driving at an appropriate speed is not seen as a quality of a good driver.

·    Various personality traits are linked to poor driving behaviour, including sensation seeking, aggression and anger, a Type A personality, normlessness, intolerance, less empathy, impulsiveness, recklessness and mild social deviance.

·    Current in-vehicle technology is viewed positively in terms of increasing road-user safety. Future in-vehicle technology has some support, especially for information provision rather than systems that take-over driving behaviour. There are concerns that technology might make driving less safe, especially in terms of over reliance on the technology.

·    Technological solutions are viewed differently by different people. Those who drive least safely most of the time (continuous risk takers) tend to view all engineering interventions very negatively, except black box technology.

So, what does this tell us?

In terms of launching a new safety product, this is a forbidding list which tells us that
when it comes to road safety, people aren't rational - a nightmare particularly for the
safety organisations and for government. And of course, it reinforces what was said by the people I spoke to.

There were also some conclusions about campaigns:

·    Campaigns targeting a mass audience may have little effect on changing the behaviour of road users, but may influence attitudes and social norms.

·    Campaigns that induce fear have little effect on the most confident drivers who believe such adverts are not targeted at them.

·    Skills training can have an unintended negative effect on driver performance by creating overconfidence, especially among professional drivers.

·    More success in changing behaviour and attitudes comes from interventions that target specific behaviours and groups, such as implementation intentions and reflective group discussions.

·    Most positive attitudes towards motorcyclists come from drivers who themselves are motorcyclists or have close relatives who are.

·    There is some interesting research on attitudes towards motorcyclists that links attitudes and skill, something that other areas of road-user safety research requires more focus on.

·    Choices made by individuals can be explained and predicted by cognitive psychology models of bounded rationality, opening the opportunity to change an individual’s behaviour towards better alternatives – in a way that does not limit their freedom of choice (or, as it is fashionable to say, people are ‘nudge-able’).

So, look to influence and shift attitudes (that's what we're trying to do).  Think about
educating people and use the people that understand the point.  Work to shift people over
time - we need to be in for the long haul!

At Safe Towing we are acutely aware of the need for safe driving practices, and of making sure that drivers are alert to the need to drive with consideration towards all other road users.   We believe that Safe T-Signs help alongside driver attitudes to being safe on the road and not taking unnecessary risks.  So how?

• We'll work with others who want to promote road safety
• We'll work with individuals who want to be safe
• We'll highlight issues of interest

 But, most importantly, I think we also need the help and support of people who influence drivers as individuals who could be in an accident with all that entails, to help influence drivers and all road users to do the things that will make and keep themselves and other road users safe.

... see our new website:

http://www.safetowing.co.uk/index.htm


Whatever kind of trailer you’re towing, Safe T Signs mean Safe Towing! Be seen and be safe when you emerge from junctions or roundabouts, and when you are towing in the dark.

Buy Safe T Signs from our website here:  http://www.safetowing.co.uk/buy-now.htm