Proactive Partnership Strategy - Global Road Safety Partnership

Again using Brazil as the example, it is within the Micro culture where the
greatest gains can be made in bringing about an advanced road safety
culture in a community, but always taking a small step by step approach.
In detail, two excellent examples of how this works in Brazil are as follows:
1. Safe School Bus Drivers. School buses can be public or privately owned
and are sometimes loosely regulated.
A Safe School Bus Driver road safety system was made available, and
attendance was voluntary. Over time, three levels of Municipal Road Safety
Quality Stamps (3 stars/Gold, 2 stars/Silver and 1 star/Bronze) are awarded
to drivers after they attend a training session and commit to safer ways of
operating. These stamps have a maximum 12 month validity period and
are displayed on the front window or door of the bus.
Soon parents and schools were demanding that their children only ride in
buses where the driver had participated in road safety systems and had
earned a quality stamp.
Activity
What are some potential micro
system interventions that would
hasten the growth in a road safety
culture in your community Which
sub-populations could be targeted
for systems that would catapult an
increase in the road safety culture
What types of ‘awards’ would be most
appealing to the targeted groups
(Stamps, certificates, badges etc.)
How could these systems be
regulated and monitored in your
community What needs to be put
in place to maintain the integrity of
the awards
Drivers were eager to participate in the systems and to have the stamps,
as it was good for business and there were good safety outcomes for all.
2. Safe Taxi Drivers. Taxi drivers in some Towns were unreliable and unsafe,
so as part of the PPS micro culture actions a road safety system (including
the issue of drink driving) was offered to the taxi industry. Again the three
tiered Quality Stamps were awarded, and these were displayed on the
front window of the taxi.
Progressively the paying passengers became aware of the meaning and
value of the quality stamp and demanded that their taxi driver was a
recognized safe driver. The demand for the safe taxi system increased,
bringing benefits for all. Not only was the paying passenger safer, but the
taxi driver was financially rewarded because more people wanted to use
their services. The taxi industry overall found business was growing as the
public gained confidence in it in terms of reliability and safety.
Such initiatives at the micro level really echo the principles of social marketing
as set down by Cialdini and mentioned earlier in the Introduction.
47 Proactive Partnership Strategy