“Wake Up Call” Media Awareness of Highway Safety – The Numbers Alone Won’t Do It

“Wake Up Call”Media Awareness of Highway Safety – The Numbers Alone Won’t Do It Presented at the International Traffic Records Forum Denver, Colorado July 15, 2003

OK Boys and Girls • Lunch was wonderful (or was it?) • The Cicadian Rhythms are in full force • And . . . Dang it its NAP TIME

No, it’s not NAP TIME - • It’s Phase 1 of your WAKE UP CALL • Put on your thinking caps • It’s time for a test!

Question 1 • Based on media coverage during 2003, which of the following is a major public health issue? • SARS • Monkey Pox • Bio Terrorism • Traffic Crashes

Question 2 • I’m vacationing with my family in the south this summer. I should be most concerned about? • Traffic crashes • West Nile Virus • Undercooked hamburgers at the local fast food joint • Elvis sightings

Question 3 • Rank the following in terms of federal funding priorities: • Dental research • Homeopathic medicine • Motor vehicle safety

I could go on, but I think you get the picture, which is wonderful because someone needs to get the picture and the people who really need to get the picture about highway safety are largely CLUELESS

The Bottom Line is • Traffic deaths and injuries are a national public health epidemic – the leading killer for persons ages 1-35, responsible for nearly as many years of potential lives lost as cancer and heart disease and – largely ignored by the media (and, partly as a result, by the vast majority of the American public)

In short, we are the Chicago Cubs of public health, the ’62 Mets of transportation, and the Rodney Dangerfields of journalists – We Are Highway Safety

Why • So little interest? • So little outrage? • So little attention For such an enormous and costly societal problem?

In preparation for this talk – pep rally lecture – ranting – wake; it’s multiple choice day so just fill in the blank. I actually interviewed 10 people (6 safety types, 3 data geeks and my dog (just kidding) actually 5 highway safety people (young cop, old cop, relative novice, gray beard, upbeats) and 5 citizens (seniors, middle aged, Gen X, Gen Y, teen driver)

I posed the question – why do traffic crashes, injuries and deaths generate so little media attention? • And here are the answers: • Commonplace – 9 • 1 or 2 at a time – 8 • Everyone thinks they are a good driver – 8 • Everyone thinks it couldn’t happen to them – 8 • If it’s 24 hours old, it’s old news – 6 • Not usually sensational enough - 5

Today we’re in the great State of Colorado, but when it comes to highway safety . . . most of the country is in a state of denial

“It’s won’t happen to me.” • Sheila Jasonoff, Cornell University • “Illusory zones of immunity” • Sage Foundation • Individuals have a strong but unjustified sense of subjective immunity

Add to this phenomenon the fact that drivers consistently perceive themselves as better drivers than most everyone else on the road, regardless of their actual driving records.

When nothing could be further from the truth . . . . • 2001 FARS data showed 82% of all fatal crashes resulted, at least in part, from driver violations, errors and/or drowsy/distracted behavior

How do we as traffic data professionals help to rectify the current situation, i.e. the lack of media awareness, interest . . . lack of public concern, frustration, outrage? • Have we been successful in the past?? • Has the situation ever been different?

Safety Belts - NO • Certainly tremendous contribution to reducing death and injury • Key, on-going early PI&E with Vince & Larry • But, generally, slow and steady progress NO BIG JUMPING OFF POINT

Vehicle Safety • Nadar’s Unsafe At Any Speed – does anyone remember what car he was talking about? • Music – See the USA in your Chevrolet . . . • But, other issues such as Pintos • Ford cars falling out of park • GM pick-ups with exploding gas tanks have not had nearly that level of impact • Firestone tires on Ford Explorers was Page One for a time.

One example really stands out where we engaged the media – kept their attention and made a real difference.I’m talking about MADD and their efforts to bring public and media attention to the issue of impaired driving in the early 1980s.

And, while the data certainly made a difference(more than 25,000 deaths annually in crashes involving drinking and impaired drivers) it was the very real, the very human face of the innocent victims, of their needless and preventable tragedy, which forever changed America’s perception of drunk driving

Why was it successful? • It wasn’t just numbers -- behind the numbers were a myriad of human faces • Those faces were victims - innocent persons who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

By personalizing the drunk driving issue, MADD (and the rest of us) were able to overcome the sheer numbers, the sheer overwhelming magnitude of the problem. It enabled the media to “get a hold” of the issue to make sense of it, to make it believable, real and understandable for their audience. Because of that, the MADD approach resonated with the media, and, ultimately, with the American public.

Data Run Amuck Some examples of highway safety issues which “grew teeth,” and have generated far more attention than the death and injury statistics would justify - - -

Air Bags • Remember the “air bag scare” of the late 1990s? I guarantee the NHTSA folks do. • For several months a relative handful of deaths, a few hundred while at the same time 150 to 200 thousand Americans were killed in traffic crashes, literally held the highway safety community hostage.

And, there have been others Interestingly several of these are situations where data driven decision-making has been ignored by the highway safety community itself

Child Passenger Safety • An important issue (children are innocent and unable to protect themselves) but relative to the magnitude of the problem, they represent well under 2% of all traffic deaths

The issue has benefited from an inordinate amount of media exposure, program activity and federal funding, especially in contrast to young adults who are no longer innocent and unable to protect themselves, but are also at least 10 times more likely to die in traffic crashes than their younger counterparts.

Railroad Crossing Safety • Has its own well-funded and powerful lobbying group – Operation Lifesaver • Train/vehicle crashes account for 1-1.5% of traffic deaths • During the 1990s, railroad crossing improvements were garnering 30-35% of all federal safety funds dedicated to roadway improvements

If you don’t think this made a difference, think of the lives that could have been saved if some of that RR crossing safety money had been spent on high benefit, low cost improvements, such as milled-in rumble strips on our interstate highway system.

One additional “hot button” issue has been school bus safety • A single fatal crash in Tennessee prompted U.S. DOT Transportation Secretary Sam Skinner to “earmark” or dedicate nearly 10 million dollars of scarce state 402 resources to an issue which kills fewer than three dozen in-bus occupants annually.

What about some other “losers” in terms of attention relative to the magnitude of the problem? • 2-lane rural roads • more fatalities occur here than anywhere else • ROR • Run Off the Road crashes • FHWA is just now beginning a larger focus on these 2 issues

Young Adults Drivers (21-34) • Collectively, our largest age group in terms of death and injury • Sometimes lost in the shuffle - • After high school and college, how do we reach them? • What influences? • What appeals?

Alcohol • Speaking of getting short-sheeted, what about impaired driving in the initial SAFE-TEA proposal? • But, getting back to our original premise – Engaging the Media • We’ve talked about MADD’s success • Could it be replicated? • Easier said than done

Another challenge • Sometimes the media has an interest in highway safety issues, but focus is pin-point rather than broad (e.g. drunk boating in relation to Iowa’s new .08 law) • Or the media’s fascination with repeat offenders despite the overwhelming prevalence of persons with no prior OWI (DUI/DWI) convictions as drunk and drinking drivers in fatal crashes

The trick is to “buy into” the media’s issue • Feed them the numbers they need • Win their confidence and trust • Then, human nature being what it is, they will be more interested and tuned in to the “real” highway safety issues you would like them to address

In Conclusion • Our job as traffic records professionals is to help other highway safety professionals, the media and the general public understand that all highway safety problems are NOT created equal in terms of their impact on death and injury • Data alone won’t do it • Personalize issue • Show innocent victims • Put a human face on preventable tragedy • Engage media on their terms • Win their trust and respect • Use that trust to promote better media understanding of the big killers on the road – and some prevention strategies that can save lives and reduce injuries

Now it’s time to analyze your quiz results . . . Tell them what they’ve won Jack Thank you – Please enjoy the rest of the Forum

“Wake Up Call” Media Awareness of Highway Safety – The Numbers Alone Won’t Do It