Designing Antecedent Strategies for Increasing Safe Driving: A Pledgecard for Encouraging Belts and Discouraging Booze

Abstract

A pledgecard designed to increase safety belt use and decrease driving under the influence of alcohol was distributed to faculty, staff, and students at a university campus. The pledgecard actually contained two separate pledges - one to use a safety belt (Buckle Up) and one to use safe transportation (Drive Sober). Each portion was designed such that it would be present whenever a decision regarding these behaviors was to be made. The Buckle Up pledge was designed to be hung from the inside rearview mirror of a vehicle, whereas the Drive Sober pledge was designed to fit inside one's purse or wallet.

The “Take the Pledge” program encouraged participants to pledge to Buckle Up and Drive Sober for four weeks. Observations of safety belt use were conducted beginning two weeks prior to the beginning of the pledge program and ending ten weeks later. Additionally, surveys were distributed before and after the program to obtain self-report measures of safety belt use and driving under the influence (DUI). Results indicated that there was a significant increase in both self-reported and actual safety belt use for both drivers and passengers during the “Take the Pledge” program. There was no significant change in the reported incidence of DUI. Program Agents demonstrated a greater commitment to both their Buckle Up and Drive Sober pledges than did Program Recipients.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Califano

J.A.

Jr. (1979). Healthy people: The Surgeon General's report on health promotion and disease prevention. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Federal

(1984, July). Federal motor vehicle safety standards: Occupant crash protection, Final Rule, 48 (No. 138). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Transportation.

Fell

J.C.

(1982). Alcohol involvement in traffic crashes. American Association for Automobile Medicine Quarterly Journal, 4, 23–42.

Geller

E.S.

(1984). Motivating safety belt use with incentives: A critical review of the past and a look to the future. SAE Technical Paper Series (No. 840326). Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers.

Geller

E.S.

(1988). A behavioral science approach to transportation safety. Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 65(7), 632–661.

Geller

E.S.

(1989). Intervening to increase children's use of safety belts. Alcohol, Drugs, and Driving, 5(1), 37–39.

Geller

E.S.

Kalsher

M.J.

Rudd

J.R.

Lehman

G.R.

(1989). Promoting safety belt use on a university campus: An integration of commitment and incentive strategies. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 19, 3–19.

Geller

E.S.

Rudd

J.R.

Kalsher

M.J.

Streff

F.M.

Lehman

G.R.

(1987). Employer-based programs to motivate safety belt use: A review of short and long-term effects. Journal of Safety Research, 18, 1–17.

Hollenbeck

J.R.

Williams

C.R.

Klein

H.J.

(1989). An empirical examination of the antecedents of commitment to difficult goals. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 18–23.

10.

Kalsher

M.J.

Geller

E.S.

Clarke

S.W.

Lehman

G.R.

(1989). Safety belt promotion on a naval base: A comparison of incentives vs. disincentives. Journal of Safety Research, 20, 103–113.

11.

Lund

A.K.

Pollner

Williams

A.F.

(1987). Preliminary estimates of the effects of mandatory seat belt use laws. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 19(3), 219–223.

12.

McGinnis

J.M.

(1984). Occupant protection as a priority in national efforts to promote health. Health Education Quarterly, 11, 127–131.

13.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (1985, September). The economic costs to society of motor vehicle accidents (1984 update). Washington, D.C.: Memorandum, Office of Plans and Policy, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.

14.

Roberts

M.C.

(1987). Public health and health psychology: Two cats of Kilkenny? Professional Psychology, 18, 145–149.

15.

Roberts

M.C.

Brooks

P.H.

(Eds.). (1987). Children's injuries: Prevention and public policy. Journal of Social Issues, 43, No. 2.

16.

Rudd

J.R.

Geller

E.S.

(1985). A university-based incentive program to increase safety belt use: Toward cost-effective institutionalization. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 18, 215–226.

17.

Sleet

D.A.

(1987). Motor vehicle trauma and safety belt use in the context of public health priorities. The Journal of Trauma, 27, 695–702.

18.

Streff

F. M.

Geller

E. S.

(1986). Strategies for motivating safety belt use: The application of applied behavior analysis. Health Education Research, 1, 47–59.

19.

Wagenaar

A.C.

(1983). Alcohol, young drivers, and traffic accidents. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath Lexington Books.