1. CAST Project funded by the European Commission, Directorate-General Energy & Transport, under the 6th RTD Framework Programme

2. Background: the EU support to campaigns Road safety campaigns are recognised as a relatively economic means of influencing a major fraction of drivers towards a better behaviour. EuroBOB (designated driver, since 2002): 13 Member States now involved (BE, CZ, DK, EL, ES, FR, IE, IT, MT, NL, PL, PT, UK) NESA (“nuit européenne sans accident”): an action to make young drivers aware of the influence of alcohol (and drugs) on driving and to help them to become responsible drivers; 7 Member States involved in 2004 (BE, EE, ES, FR, LU, NL, PL), 3 more in 2005, etc. Red Cross (3 campaigns so far. Targets: children & teen-agers) EUCHIRES (seat belts & child restraint systems)

3. Are road safety campaigns effective? In some Countries, the campaigns against drink-driving are evaluated. Positive outcome: campaigns are well perceived, well accepted and have a good notoriety; road users recognise that drink driving is a major problem But: how effective are the campaigns??? A mass media campaign is most of the time a part of an integrated campaign (e.g. stronger enforcement). How to isolate the impact of various inputs (enforcement, campaign, etc.)?

4. Are road safety campaigns effective? The “CAST” RTD project (2006-2008) “CAST”: Campaigns and Awareness-raising Strategies in Traffic safety 19 Institutes in the consortium (leader: IBSR/BIVV, BE) 15 participating Countries: BE, CH, CZ, DK, DE, EL, FR, IT, NL, NO, AT, PL, PT, SI, SE 340 man-months over 36 months Total cost: 5.3 m€ EU grant: 3.2 m€

5. “CAST” Aims: To develop an evaluation tool and a design tool for road safety mass media campaigns (i.e. any road safety campaign, not just campaigns against drink-driving) To enable the Commission and/or Countries to design and implement such campaigns and to evaluate their (isolated) effect on traffic accidents and other road safety performance indicators.

6. “CAST” organisation Six work packages (WP) designationWP leader (Country) 1.Road user modelTØI (NO) 2.Evaluation toolIBSR/BIVV (BE) 3.ManualINRETS (FR) 4.EvaluationVTI (SE) 5.Pan-EU campaignIBSR/BIVV (BE) 6.DisseminationPRP (PT)

7. “CAST” WP1 (road user model) Tasks: Workshop on theories of behaviour and effects of campaigns (“state of the art”) Effects of campaigns on behaviour and accidents, campaign strategies and “best practices” Road user behaviour and behaviour models Key elements for evaluation Outputs Results of meta-analysis (to be published in a scientific journal) Road user model (i.e. parameters that should be observed and measured)

8. “CAST” WP2 (evaluation tool) Tasks: Constructing a tool for the evaluation of a single road safety campaign Listing a typology of evaluation methods; Overview and comparison of research designs; Elaboration of a best practice manual Constructing a tool for reporting effects of a single campaign in a standardized way Outputs: Typology of evaluation methods Comparison of research designs Evaluation tool for a single campaign Checklist for reporting effects of single campaigns

9. “CAST” WP3 (manual) (very few manual exist…) Tasks Identification and selection of the target group(s) and identification of its characteristics Description of information and public awareness strategies Selection of communication methods for each target-group Criteria for evaluation Development of standards for reporting campaigns Output: Manual to design and implement road safety mass media campaigns

10. “CAST” WP4 (evaluation) Tasks Selection of a campaign Assessment Analysing the data Output: Results of the evaluation of the campaign and relevant findings to validate the evaluation tools of WP2 (i.e. setting up of an evaluation tool)

11. “CAST” WP5 (pan-EU campaign) Tasks: Using and testing the design tool developed in WP3 (manual) Elaboration of the elements leading to a campaign (theme, objective, strategy, target group, running period, media plan) Implementation (specialized advertising, communication agencies and by the project partners themselves) Output: Pan European road safety campaign

12. “CAST” WP6 (dissemination) Tasks Presenting and distributing the reports and findings of all WPs - in particular, the manual (WP3) and the evaluation tool (WP2) Outputs: 3 Workshops (SE, PL, EL) Conference (Brussels) 3 newsletters Web site Publications in scientific journals

13. In a nutshell: “CAST” will… build on existing knowledge (methodological research) and experience, elaborate and describe a road user manual i.e. parameters that should be observed and measured, provide a methodologically sound and robust evaluation tool + a checklist to standardize reporting methods, provide a manual for designing, developing and evaluating campaigns; and finally, Contribute to increasing the efficiency of road safety campaigns Contribute to increasing the efficiency of road safety campaigns.