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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Purpose:
This plan is intended to promote traffic safety, in order to decrease the number
of injuries and fatalities among U.S. citizens. The purpose is to reduce the
number of hit-and-run accidents that occur and result in injury or death. Hit-andrun accidents in this plan refer to any traffic accident where an operator of a
vehicle has failed to stop and give information, and render aid after being
involved in an accident that resulted in death/injury to a person or damage to a
vehicle attended by a person.
Focus:
The focus of this plan is to encourage young adults (18-24) to agree to adhere to
Texas traffic statutes as listed on section 550.023 of the Texas Transportation
Code, overall reducing the number of hit-and-run related injuries and deaths
(Tex. Trans. Code, 1995).
Strengths
SWOT ANALYSIS
Stopping can prevent increase in severity of the crash and/or injury (Tay et al.,
2008).
Weaknesses
A driver is more likely to flee when they perceive higher subsequent economic
consequences (Zhang et al., 2014).
Opportunities
Hit-and-runs are often not caused by career criminals and happen spontaneously
not planned (Kim et al., 2008).
Licensed drivers are more likely to stop after a traffic accident (Tay et al., 2008).
Threats
There are a high number of fatal accidents with 151,820 drivers were involved in
fatal crashes between 2007 and 2009 (AAA Foundation, 2011).
BACKGROUND
Hit and run accidents are on the rise, -- increasing by 13% from 2009 to 2011
according to research done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(2013). While there is plenty of research and various causes to traffic accidents, the
psychology behind why people choose to flee the scene of an accident is still
questionable and under researched. One study concluded from findings that people
are more likely to flee when they perceive higher subsequent consequences (Zhang et
al., 2014). Most hit and run accidents tend to occur during nighttime when visibility and
traffic are lower (Tay et al., 2008). Additionally, hit-and-run crashes are more likely to
happen on weekends than on weekdays, with alcohol increasing likeliness as well
(Blomberg et al., 2009). Young people ages 21-24 are most at risk to be involved in an
alcohol-related accident with 32% of fatal alcohol crashes involving young adults in
2012 (CDC, 2014). The maximum penalty for failing to comply with Texas Traffic Code
was half that for causing a drunken-driving fatality. The current penalty for failure to
stop and render aid, under Texas Traffic Code, is felony and/or misdemeanor
depending on whether or not a person was injured (Tex. Trans. Code, 1995).
TARGET AUDIENCE
Proposed Target Audience
The proposed target audience is young adults between the ages of 18 and 24,
referred to as millennials in this plan. The specific audience for this plan holds a valid
drivers license, is living on their own, but still considerably financially dependent on
parents and/or school loans and are not considered career criminals. Additionally, the
target audience for this campaign currently attends a Texas public university and is
unmarried with a low expendable income.
Millennials are highly impacted by technology from an early age, are interactive
on online communities and have access to cell phones and other digital devices.
Research shows that this generation values their role in the community. Additionally,
millennials have reported to share close relationships with their parents and note
creativity as an important job feature (Council of Academic Advisers, 2014). This
generation can be defined by large national events such as the shootings at Columbine
and Virginia Tech, the 911 terrorist attack, Hurricane Katrina and Oklahoma City
bombings. While experts believe that some individuals have become desensitized to
tragedy, the generation as a whole has high regard for issues in society including
violence, poverty and environmental problems (Funk, 2014). All of this is despite a
general public perception that millennials are apathetic to social issues.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
A 15-question survey, including 5 open-ended questions, was distributed online
to 15 college-age adults between the ages of 20 and 24. The survey was designed to
investigate knowledge of the proposed target audience regarding hit-and-run motives,
consequences and frequency of occurrence. The survey began with a fictional scenario.
The respondents were then asked to answer three questions. The first question
explored motive and of the 15 respondents, 10 cited insurance as a reason that the
fictional person presented in the scenario did not stop. According to the survey results,
lack of insurance is a perceived key factor in hit-and-run accidents. The secondary
research supports this assumption with data noting lack of license (and by default, lack
of drivers insurance) as a factor for higher likelihood to flee the scene (Tay et al., 2008).
This implies that licensed millennials do not perceive themselves at risk.
The second question explored perceived consequence. Almost half the
respondents (7) presumed some sort of hit-and-run charge as a possible consequence.
Only two respondents mentioned jail time and seven mentioned a monetary penalty
such as fine, ticket or compensation for damages.
The third question again explored motive, exploring the likelihood of alcohol as
a factor. Only 3 respondents did not consider alcohol to be a likely factor, with 11 of
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about social issues. The preference of medium for social issue information was fairly
widespread with an equal amount of people (5) preferring newspaper/journal and
television, and 3 preferring social media, followed by 2 preferring to learn about social
issues through friends and family.
Overall, the survey revealed three things. (1) Young adults are aware that hitand-run accidents are unlawful, punishable crimes; (2) young adults have potential to
perceive themselves at risk; (3) millennials have been affected in some way by hit-andrun accidents Additionally, it is worth noting that the questionnaire revealed a majority
of millennials questioned give thought to social issues.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Main Campaign Goal
Decrease hit-and-run traffic accidents among young adults (18-24) in Texas by
providing a simple procedure/script to be followed in the event of an accident.
Behavior Objective
The anticipated (intermediate) behavior will be for the target audience to make a
conscious proactive choice to not be a hit-and-run driver in the event of an accident.
Knowledge Objective
The audience will need to know that it is against the law to flee the scene of an
accident without complying with Texas Transportation Code.
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The audience will need to know and understand that the proper procedure to follow in
the event of an accident is to:
1. Stop Stop the vehicle and/or pull off to the side if necessary.
2. Check on others: Make sure that whomever else is involved, in whatever way,
is okay.
3.Notify authorities: Call 911 to report the incident and get help (medical or
otherwise), and mediation for exchange of information. If help from authorities is
not necessary, exchange necessary insurance and contact information.
Belief Objective
The audience will need to believe that their individual behavior will make a difference.
Doing the right thing and stopping is a reflection of good character for the
generation and congruent with what other millennials actions.
Theoretical Implications
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Benefits
Staying after the occurrence of a traffic accident can potentially result in saving
someones life. A stopped vehicle can act as a shield in the event that oncoming traffic
doesnt immediately recognize that there has been an accident (Tay et al., 2008). This
is especially true for accidents involving pedestrians or cyclists who are clearly more
exposed. The audience holds social issues in high regard (Funk, 2014), suggesting that
these individuals care about society as a whole and thus care about the well being of
people. If the audience can be led to think that they are contributing to society by
stopping, that they are saving lives, then it is possible that the likelihood for behavior
congruent with existing beliefs will increase. Also, a perceived benefit to proactively
choosing to stop is that making this honorable choice can be a way to discredit the
public perception that millennials are apathetic to social issues.
Competition
A possible competing behavior to proactively choosing to not hit and run after an
accident is to not think about the situation at all. Research showed that millennials have
lived through several national tragedies and have become somewhat desensitized
(Funk, 2014). Its a likely possibility that millennials would rather not have to think about
hard or uncomfortable circumstances and instead focus on the positive.
Influential Others
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Millennials have strong relationships with their parents and the community.
Additionally, this generation is connected more than any other generation online and
has a high percentage of people seeking higher education (Council of Economic
Advisers, 2014). Influential others for this group therefore including: parents, and peers
(online and off). Parents are a large influence but because more millennials attend
college away from home, a significant amount of time is spent with roommates, friends
and fellow students. Peer groups/friends are present for behavior such as drinking that
lead up to hit-and-runs and are easier to relate to.
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POSITIONING STATEMENT
We want millennials in Texas to see proactively choosing to stop, and not flee, after
being involved in a traffic accident as a normative behavior among other millennials
that will contribute to reducing the negative perception that this generation (18-24 year
olds) is narcissistic and apathetic to social issues and reaffirm the fact that millennials
actually do care about social issues.
The need to eliminate cognitive dissonance will inspire millennials to discredit the
public perception that they are apathetic to social issues but the way that the audience
will demonstrate social responsibility will be through the theory of reasoned action. If
the proactive declaration of intent to stop and exchange information immediately after
a traffic accident is established as a normative behavior amongst millennials, then an
individuals behavior will likely follow that attitude (TRA; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975).
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Time and effort it takes to read through a message, possible scenarios and
sign the petition.
Time and effort it takes to share with friends either by word of mouth or
social media.
Nonmonetary Psychological:
Having to consciously think about the possibility of this happening and stick
to their word.
Place
The best place to meet the target audience is where they already are, in this
case, college campuses. Pairing with a student organization that has a large
following such as a local church that holds events on campus tailored for
students can be very effective. Even more effective will be student
organizations that give opinion leaders the opportunity to speak and be heard
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3. Notify authorities Call 911 to report the incident and get help
(medical or otherwise) and mediation for exchange of information.
If help from authorities is not necessary, exchange necessary
insurance and contact information.
Messengers:
School organizations that already advocate for the greater good/pro
social causes can be effective messengers through partnerships or
sponsorships. Opinion leaders such as friends can subsequently be
messengers by word of mouth or direct mention/invitation to sign online.
Creative Strategy and Communication Channels:
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The main message or tagline to get across to people will be: Millennials
Care. This blanket statement will be used to pique interest and drive traffic to
a site, created specifically for the pledge to not hit and run after an accident.
In addition to online pledges, people can sign in person on tablets or hard
copies that paid promoters will have as they disseminate the pledge on
campus hot spots. Upon signing the pledge (online) the individuals will be
invited to share on a social network platform or email to friends. Also, small
promotional items will be handed out such as a key chain featuring the
respective campus logo and message indicating completion of the pledge
and website. This pledge will serve as a declaration of intent to potentially
influence behavior later, as well as establish a community that removes
dissonance created by public perception, and strengthens the act of
stopping as a normative behavior (TRA; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). The pledge
explanation will feature a short scenario easily identifiable with college
students with simple and clear execution of the desired behavior. The pledge
itself will feature a simple declaration:
1. If I hit, I will stop.
2. If I hit, I will help and/or call for help.
3. If I hit, I will wait to exchange information.
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Social Media
A Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will be created where a hashtag, can
be used for people to share and have easier access to the pledge
domain. Content will feature only organic, amateur subject matter to
sympathize and level with the target audience. The social media presence
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Outputs
The implementation of this campaign is going to primarily be organic, but some
necessary material to launch the campaign will include:
1 Web Domain
Several hundred customized school logo key chains to give away upon signing
pledge
Outcomes
Will be measured by:
Impact
Although impact cannot necessarily be attributed to the number of pledges signed,
certain information can be monitored for changes such as:
Buzz on social media: How many people are sharing videos with positive
intent, using the hashtag, and how many likes, shares, favorites, positive
retweets, etc. are there? This can be monitored on social media
management site, Hootsuite.
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BUDGET
Although this campaign is going to rely heavily on organic communication, there are
still some practical costs to consider.
Product-related costs: It will cost some money to hire staff to facilitate the
campaign, collect signatures, input manually (if only email addresses are
provided on clipboard with pledge), generate and monitor material for social
media.
Price-related costs: Will include the purchasing of custom made key chains that
feature both the respective schools logo and a campaign message such as
website URL or hashtag.
Place-related costs: Aside from labor, it wont cost anything to promote on
campus (if affiliated with an organization) but there should be some money
allocated to support the organization in any of their efforts. For example, if the
organization rents out a campus facility weekly, the campaign budget should set
aside funds to contribute. Just the same, the organization may be a great
resource for funds. The partnering organization may choose to set aside a
special fund for the cause.
Promotion-related costs: This part of the budget will go toward purchasing a
web domain, web designer, graphic designer, videographer flyers and any other
production costs necessary.
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Evaluation-related costs: The campaign will not be large enough (yet) to require
expensive software but staff will need to be compensated for organizing and
analyzing data to evaluate outcomes.
Once the campaign becomes larger, then additional funds will be necessary for
more material, labor and promotional product.
campaign staff. An email address will equal a signature and students who dont
wish to visit the site themselves can still sign by providing their email address for
staff to later input. Upon completion of the pledge, a thank you email will be
sent out with links to social media profiles, invitation to share personal story (via
video and/or hashtag), and the opportunity to invite friends to sign as well.
Additionally, as a thank you for and a reminder of the pledge, customized key
chains will be handed out featuring, both the university logo and the campaign
URL and/or hashtag.
At the end of Stage 2, the end of September, the campaign will be evaluated for
progress.
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Based on the pretest, it will prove to be more effective to set a positive tone for
the campaign when it comes to generating traffic to the pledge website.
Additionally, it can be implied that the entire campaign can better benefit from
a positive tone rather than a negative one. All media: Facebook, Twitter and
flyers will employ an encouraging theme that presents millennials as a
generation with a lot of potential. The website URL will remain,
www.MillennialsCare.com, but the hashtag will be altered to be specific to the
Millenials Care campaign. The new hashtag will be: #MillsCare in hopes that
people will only use it in the of the the campaign.
REFERENCES
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. (2011). Unlicensed to Kill. Retrieved from
https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/default/files/2011Unlicensed2Kill.pdf.
Blomberg, R., Peck, R., Moskowitz, H., Burns, M., Fiorentino, D. (2009) The Long
Beach/Fort
Lauderdale relative risk study. Journal of Safety Research, 40(4), 285-292.
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Nabi, R. & Oliver, M. (2009). The Sage Handbook of Media Processes and Effects.
Theory of
Reasoned Action, 273-274.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2013). Traffic Safety Facts 2012 Data.
Retrieved from http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811870.pdf.
Tay, R., Barua, U., Kattan, L. (2009). Factors contributing to hit-and-run in fatal crashes.
Accident Analysis and Prevention, 41 (2), 227-233.
Tay, R., Rifaat, S., Chin, H. (2008). A logistic model of the effects of roadway,
environmental,
vehicle, crash and driver characteristics on hit-and-run crashes. Accident Analysis
and
Prevention, 40(4), 1330-1336.
Zhang, G., Li, G., Cai, T., Bishai, D., Wu, C., Chan, Z. (2014). Factors contributing to hitand-run crashes in China. Transportation Research Part F, 23, 113-124.
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APPENDICES
Online Questionnaire
Use the following scenario to answer questions 1-3.
Person A is a 22-year-old college student. Person A is driving down the highway when
they accidentally rear-end the car in front of them. Person A's front bumper is damaged
but the car can still be driven. Person B is driving the car that was rear-ended. Person
Bs rear bumper is detached and on the ground. There are no other witnesses. Person
A does not stop to exchange insurance information or to offer help.
1. What do you think are some possible reasons that Person A did not stop after
rear-ending
Person B?
2. What do you think are some possible consequences, if any, that Person A will
have to
face for not stopping after rear-ending Person B?
3. How likely or unlikely do you think it is that alcohol is a factor in Person A
choosing to not stop after rear-ending Person B?
a. Very Unlikely
b. Somewhat Unlikely
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c. Somewhat Likely
d. Very Likely
4. Why do you think it is likely that alcohol is a factor in Person A choosing to not
stop
after rear-ending Person B? or
Why do you think it is unlikely that alcohol is a factor in Person A choosing to not
stop
after rear-ending Person B?
5. Do you drive?
a. Yes
b. No
6. Do you have a drivers license?
a. Yes
b. No
7. Are you and insured driver?
a. Yes
b. No
8. Have you or anyone you know ever been involved in a hit-and-run accident?
a. Yes
b. No
9. 2 out of every 3 traffic accidents result in a hit-and-run. Does this surprise you?
Why or why not?
10. How often do you think about social issues? For example how often do you think
about the environment, cancer awareness, world hunger, etc.?
a. Never
b. Rarely
c. Sometimes
d. Often
11. Where do you most prefer to get information about social issues?
a. Social Media
b. Newspaper or Journal Article
c. Magazine
d. Television
e. Outdoor Billboard
f. Radio
g. Friends and Family
12. What is your gender?
a. Male
b. Female
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15. You have reached the end of the survey. Thank you for participating. If there any
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