SAPOL Senior Drivers Safety Campaign

Older road users are an increasing concern for the road safety community. As the South Australian population ages, there is opportunity for the issue to compound unless interventions and preventative measures are introduced. Currently, senior road users are overrepresented in road trauma. People 70+ make up 13% of the population yet account for 23% of lives lost and 13% of serious injuries. During the 5-year period 2015- 2019, on average there were 23 lives lost and 94 serious injuries of senior road users each year. Older drivers tend to be more cautious, exhibiting less undesirable road user behaviours and are involved in fewer crashes. However, these crashes are often of higher severity. Older road users can be experiencing cognitive decline, reduced physical capability or responsiveness, fragility, and other medical concerns, all of which compound the inherent dangers of the road to this vulnerable cohort. At the same time, relinquishing or reducing driving is a highly emotive issue for both the senior driver and their families, with safety concerns conflicting with self-identity of capability, independence, and mobility. Relinquishing driving can become symbolic of negative feelings toward aging along with retirement, ‘empty-nesting’ and, as one research respondent noted, “it feels like the beginning of the end”. There is opportunity in 2021 to develop a campaign addressing Senior Drivers. This will be the first campaign directly addressing this issue in SA and as such will be highly visible and of interest to the target audience, their interested parties, and stakeholders.

Outcomes

1. The Teams presented their preliminary research, project development proposal
2. The actual communication campaign: Teams could set this up through a full website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any number of other digital platforms. Teams may also develop and deliver other promotion strategies to raise awareness of the communication campaign. The selection of a communication medium or platform will depend on your target audiences and what is most appropriate for a team’s specific initiative, product, or tool.
3. A two-page program overview brochure that can be used to market each team’s initiative, product, or tool with public partners and non-governmental organisations that may be interested in providing resources to support the particular initiative.