Promotion Versus Prevention Approaches in Safe Driving Campaigns

In 1988, California initiated the longest running aggressive driving media campaign, Smooth Operator, which has since been adopted and is still running in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. In 1998, nine US states introduced legislation that provided penalties for aggressive driving. According to a 2003 AAA Mid-Atlantic Transportation Poll, motorists in the Washington area rated aggressive driving as the number one threat to highway safety and nearly 8 out of 10 motorists considered aggressive drivers to be a greater danger than terrorists. Research in both social psychology and marketing studied the antecedents of aggressive driving with mixed results. This paper uses regulatory focus theory (Higgins 1997) to understand aggressive driving and identify the most effective messages targeted at preventing this behavior. Aggressive driving is defined as the operation of “a motor vehicle in a manner which endangers or is likely to endanger people or property” (Martinez, U.S. House of Representatives, 1997) and includes speeding, tailgating, failure to yield, etc. Driving is seen here as a goal-oriented behavior. When individuals prepare to drive to a certain destination, they tend to set and follow specific goals. They may develop driving plans about the time of departure and arrival and other necessary stops, which involve various stages of goal directed actions and require an effective self-regulatory system. For example, some drivers may achieve their end goal (arriving at the destination) by focusing on positive strategies such as speeding to catch the green light. Other drivers may achieve the same end goal by focusing on avoiding possible negative consequences of driving such as missing a highway exit or being involved in an accident.