Raising awareness of road rules to improve safety for people walking
Image credits: The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR)
Action 3.2, Action Plan for Walking 2019–2021
Status: Complete
Promote the road rules and educate Queenslanders about safe interactions between people walking and other road users as part of the Road Rules Communication Plan.
Achievements
TMR has made multiple social media posts promoting safe interactions between people walking and other road users. All of these posts have achieved strong engagement with TMR's Facebook audience. They have elicited significant community discussion and have been shared by both private individuals and industry groups, extending their reach. Some of the posts have also gained national media attention, again sharing the messages with a much wider audience.
It is important that TMR continues to promote, communicate and provide accurate road rule information via modern platforms. Social media, in particular Facebook, provides a platform where the audience can learn from road rules posts through a medium they commonly use. It is also easier for the audience to share and engage in conversations to further facilitate interactive learning. Education alone is limited in changing behaviour and only works for those who are motivated (8-12% of the population). Those who are classified as 'indifferent' (approximately 68% of the population) need to be included and involved in the process for genuine behaviour and attitudinal changes to occur. Due to its interactive nature, social media cultivates an environment that 'edu-tains' engaging TMR's audience to change their behaviours and attitudes to the road rules and other road users.
Examples of the safety topics raised in the social media posts include testing audience knowledge about who has to give way in the following scenarios:
- A driver about to turn into a driveway when a person walking is about to cross. This post made over 70,000 impressions and had an engagement rate of 16%.
- A driver turning left using a slip lane when a person is walking across. This post made over 97,000 impressions and had an engagement rate of 20%.
TMR's road rules posts are the most highly engaged posts on the department's Facebook page. The industry standard is 2%, TMR's average is 10% and the road rules average is 14%. The two posts identified above had better than average impressions and engagement compared with other road rules social media posts from the last three years.
Walking and bike riding posts are some of TMR's most highly engaged posts. This is because there is a significant community of advocates for walking and riding who contribute to counter any criticism of the rules.
Next steps
Though this action has reached completion, TMR intends to continue to develop materials for social media circulation which specifically promote safe and positive interactions between pedestrians and other road users. It is also intended that opportunities to share these messages with road safety partners will be pursued and TMR will maintain its broader suite of materials to ensure these are current and valuable tools.
Lead agency
Department of Transport and Main RoadsMore information
You can view examples of interactive TMR Facebook social media posts:
- Where to ride safely on a footpath
- Giving way at driveways
- Using rideables on a footpath
- Road rules at school crossings
- Giving way at slip lanes.
Examples of national media coverage on the TMR Facebook post about giving way at driveways can be found at:
- Last updated 4 August 2021