Inattention Campaign

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Campaign Background:

Inattention, caused generally by a road user being distracted, is the most common factor reported by police in fatal and serious injury crashes in South Australia. Each year nearly half of all reported casualty crashes in South Australia are attributed to inattention.

Driving is a complex task and requires the use and coordination of various skills – physical, cognitive and sensory. Despite this, drivers still engage in numerous activities whilst driving that can distract the driver’s attention from the task. These range from using mobile phones, to staring at an activity alongside the road, adjusting the controls of audio equipment, eating and drinking and distractions caused by children.

Research shows distractions can cause:

drivers to straddle lanes on a multi lane road or veer across the road; drivers to drive inconsistently, speeding up or slowing down without apparent reason;

• difficulty in maintaining appropriate following distances from vehicles in front (eg tailgating)
• slower reaction times and hence heightened crash risk;
• impairment of the drivers judgement and awareness of safe gaps in traffic.

A literature review conducted by the Monash University Accident Research Centre in 2003 indicated that drivers are more often distracted by activities that occur within the car than outside the vehicle. The major distraction activities, rated from highest to lowest, are:

• Using/dialling mobile phone;
• Adjusting radio, cassette, compact disc (CD);
• Adjusting vehicle/climate controls;
• Eating or drinking;
• Passenger/children distraction.

Preliminary findings from South Australian research commissioned by the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, supports these results and indicates that drivers believe the most common driving distraction is the use of hand held mobile phones. Specifically, drivers surveyed believed that using SMS is the distraction most likely to cause a crash with the next most distracting activities cited as:

• Speaking on a mobile phone;
• Replacing a CD;
• Changing radio stations;
• Reading a street directory, diary or map.

An analysis of inattention crashes in South Australia in 2003 and 2004 shows that inattention is an issue in both rural and metropolitan areas, for all age ranges and for both males and females. Mobile phone use remains a significant concern from a road safety perspective with expiations increasing by 50 per cent between 2001 and 2003.

One of the specific issues with inattention is the relationship to rear end crashes. Each year there are between 6,000 - 10,000 rear end crashes on South Australian roads. Last year, the Motor Accident Commission received approximately 2,800 motor injury claims resulting from rear end crashes with a total claims cost of approximately $60 million. Rear end crashes commonly lead to neck and spinal injuries often causing life long implications for the claimant, in addition to creating a significant expense for the State. A focus on distractions and inattention will be relevant to this issue.

Advertising Objectives:
The objective of this campaign is to make it clear to drivers that there are various ways they can become distracted and the potential consequences of their inattention. It is also intended to encourage drivers to limit and self manage any distracting activities such as mobile phone use and replacing a CD while driving.

Target Audience:
Given all age groups are almost evenly represented in inattentive behaviour, and the same causes of distraction exist within each age group, the approach to each age group will be similar.

However, this must be balanced with the knowledge that mobile phone use is high among young people and those who are required to drive for work and use the telephone to conduct business. As such, this campaign will have a greater focus on these two groups, especially young drivers aged 16 – 24 years, as they are heavy users of mobile phones and over represented in road trauma statistics.

Timing:
The campaign schedule aligns with specific events and integrates with South Australia Police enforcement operations and consists of three phases. Phase one includes three radio commercials that focus on mobile phone use. Phases two and three focus on mobile phone use along with other distracting driving behaviours such as changing CDs. Phase two includes two television commercials and petrol bowser pumps, phase three includes the two television commercials, petrol bowser pumps and four new radio commercials.

Television
19 February to 11 March 2006
4 - 17 June 2006

Radio
21 August 2005 to 10 September 2005
4 - 17 June 2006

Convenience Advertising
Petrol Bowser Pumps
5 February to 5 March 2006
1 – 30 June 2006

Media Strategies:
The outreach tools for this campaign explain that in car distractions such as hand held mobile phone use (both talking and texting on the mobile phone), being distracted by passengers in the back seat and changing CDs, impairs your ability to react and make decisions while driving and thus increases the risk of having a crash and sustaining an injury to the driver or someone else.

Phase 1
Crash Course 1 Radio Commercial

This radio commercial exposes the risks and consequences of driving while using a hand held mobile phone. A young woman, driving using her hand held mobile phone, becomes distracted by her conversation and collides with another vehicle. The injuries appear serious to the frantic people near by. The key message of the commercial is if you drive while using a hand held mobile phone the fine is $187 and three demerit points, or something much worse”.

Crash Course 2 Radio Commercial

A tradesman driving while using his hand held mobile phone is distracted by a conversation with his boss. Frustrated by time delays and distracted by the conversation, the driver’s van collides with another vehicle that would have been easily seen by an attentive driver. The key message of the commercial is if you drive while using a hand held mobile phone the fine is $187 and three demerit points, or something much worse.

Let it ring Radio Commercial

This radio commercial conveys the difficulty of answering a mobile phone while driving. It also conveys the sensibility of ignoring a ringing phone because in doing so drivers avoid the increased risk of not only crashing but also collecting a $187 fine and three demerit points, or something much worse.

Phase 2 and Phase 3

Spy in the Sky Television Commercial

The first Spy in the Sky television commercial begins with a young male executive driving his car while talking on a hand held mobile. Distracted by the phone call, he narrowly avoids hitting a mother and child on a pedestrian crossing. The commercial then leaps into the second inattentive driving scenario with another young male driving along in a utility. As he changes his CD he swerves into the lane next to him and almost knocks a motorcyclist off his bike. The voice over then explains that it only takes a split second to lose your concentration. The final scenario depicts a young female driver using her mobile phone to text a friend. While texting the message she obviously is not watching the road ahead and she collides into the back of a vehicle that has stopped.

The end tag of the commercial is Good Drivers Just Drive. Stop. Think.

The second Spy in the Sky television commercial begins with a young mother driving her van. As she leans over the back seat to pick up a toy for her child a, she swerves into the way of an oncoming semi-trailer. The other two inattentive driving scenarios depicted in this version are the same as the mobile phone scenarios above and also concludes with the same end tag.

Spy in the Sky Radio Commercial

Four radio commercials supplement the television commercials and explain that it only takes a split second to lose your concentration and can result in serious consequences. All four radio commercials are complimentary to the scenarios depicted in the two television commercials.

The first commercial depicts a young male talking on his mobile phone whilst driving. He only just stops in time before hitting someone at a pedestrian crossing.

The second commercial depicts a young male changing his CD whilst driving. As he does he drifts into the other lane, narrowly missing the motorcyclist alongside him.

The third commercial depicts a young female responding to a text message whilst driving. As a result of this, she doesn’t see that the traffic ahead has stopped and collides into the car in front, hospitalising herself and the other driver.

The fourth commercial depicts a young mother driving home with her two kids. The mother leans over the back seat to pick up her child’s toy. As she does, she veers across the road into the path of an oncoming semi trailer.

The voice over concludes with only takes a split second to lose your concentration, good drivers just drive.

Spy in the Sky Petrol Bowser Pumps – Convenience Advertising

Petrol Bowser Pumps with the slogan it only takes a split second to lose your concentration, good drivers just drive will be in 75 petrol stations across South Australia.

More information
Minister Media Releases
View the TV and Radio Ads