Enhancing the Evaluation of Road Safety Communication Programs: Developing an Evaluation Strategy

Motor Accident Commission (MAC) funds and delivers the South Australia (SA) Government’s road safety communication programs. MAC is committed to improving the evaluation of its road safety communication programs, as a means of ensuring the value of the program spend and evolving understanding of, and application of, the factors of success to maximise road safety outcomes. MAC has developed a practical Evaluation Strategy for road safety communications based on a review of international research and best practice. This paper describes the Evaluation Strategy and its development to assist other jurisdictions in undertaking evidence-based and practical approaches to determine the efficacy of road safety communication programs. The Evaluation Strategy identifies a framework and structure for the program development-implementation-improvement cycle. Rigorous and comprehensive evaluation methods can impose significant costs. The MAC Evaluation Strategy therefore provides Tiered Evaluation Options which allows MAC to determine the level of evaluation undertaken depending on budget and the size, originality, and type of the program being considered. Three types of communication programs are defined and up to five tiers of outcome evaluation options are described for each type of communication program. The Strategy goes beyond common evaluation processes by adding possible evaluations based on dedicated observations of relevant behaviours on-road and provides for a more rigorous assessment of the relationship between campaigns and changes in crashes and casualties