Seat Belt on in Calderdale
Earlier this year, Calderdale MBC were awarded funding from the Department for Transport to undertake a project that would increase seat belt wearing levels across the district as a whole with a specific focus on the ethnic minority groups. The project aimed to reduce the inequality in car occupant casualties in their ethnic minority groups whilst at the same time increasing seat belt wearing levels in all groups in the district.
As part of the project, Enventure Consultancy were commissioned to undertake pre and post project research into seat belt wearing attitudes and behaviour using roadside surveys, focus groups and a school pupil survey.
To facilitate the gathering of research information from non-compliant seat belt wearers a series of roadside questionnaires were conducted on a number of roads throughout the district, with the cooperation of the West Yorkshire Police. With eight days of police assistance over a four week period, 908 questionnaires were collected. During the survey drivers were then asked to attend a focus group to discuss the reasons for not wearing a seat belt.
Through the use of the roadside survey and focus groups the research has highlighted:
- which type of journey seat belts are least likely to be worn
- why they are not being worn
- what interventions would encourage seat belt wearing
- the pre existing perceptions of the likelihood of being stopped for non compliance
Calderdale MBC also believed the project would become self sustaining to a certain degree. The belief was that children who learn from an early age to become seat belt wearers were more likely to continue with this behaviour into adulthood. To test the theory Enventure sent out 10,000 quetionnaires to schools across the district to find out about their seat belt wearing habits and history and the examples their parents were setting. Over 4,500 questionnaires were returned, and the information will be used to target the right groups with the education, publicity and enforcement activity of the Seat Belt on project.
Following the ongoing communications project, a second phase of research will be conducted in January 2009 to measure the effectiveness of the specific education and publicity initiatives, and the changes in seat belt wearing rates.