Skip to main content

Public awareness and engagement key to making roads safer

Sustained public information campaigns on road safety can play a crucial role in reducing road fatalities on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) roads, according to a UK government marketing professional, whose public communication campaigns have helped reduce deaths on British roads by 45 per cent in the last decade.
April 26, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Sustained public information campaigns on road safety can play a crucial role in reducing road fatalities on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) roads, according to a UK government marketing professional, whose public communication campaigns have helped reduce deaths on British roads by 45 per cent in the last decade.

Emma Stranack, deputy director of external communications at the 5432 Department for Transport in the UK, said that raising and sustaining public awareness of the key risks of speeding, mobile phone use and not wearing seatbelts helps change attitudes about road safety, leading to safer and more considerate road behaviour.

Stranack has led the development and delivery of the UK Government’s Think! public awareness campaigns on road safety.  The campaigns, which include advertising, partnership marketing and digital engagement, have contributed to a 45 per cent reduction of road fatalities on British roads in the last decade – from 3,409 in 2000 to 1,850 in 2010.

She will be among an expert line-up of road safety experts at the sixth edition of the 224 Gulf Traffic Conference, taking place from the 12-13 December 2011 at the Dubai International Convention and Centre.

Stranack will provide an overview of the role of communications in UK road safety at the conference, including case study examples of Think! campaigns covering priority issues such as speeding and wearing seatbelts.

Increasing road safety and reducing traffic are top priorities for regional governments, and are the main topics of discussion at the two-day Gulf Traffic Conference 2011.  The event will bring together leading regional and international road traffic and transportation experts.

“It is clear that the GCC region is taking road safety seriously and is making good progress in addressing the main issues,” added Stranack.  “Events such as Gulf Traffic 2011 should reinforce this by sharing best practice and insight from across the region and by reviewing international case studies to help inform the design of road safety measures.

“As part of the UN Decade of Action on Road Safety, I am honoured to represent the UK Department for Transport at the conference and share what we have learned about how communications can help contribute to reducing road casualties.”

Organised by Informa Exhibitions, the conference runs alongside the Gulf Traffic Exhibition, which has so far confirmed an exhibitor line-up of 149 contractors, manufacturers and suppliers from 27 countries in the Middle East and overseas.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Insight into €7.7 billion European transport funding at TRA 2012
    March 21, 2012
    The TRA 2012 transport event, being held in April in Athens, will provide a unique interactive opportunity for attendees to learn about Horizon 2020, the European Commission proposal for a new Research & Innovation Framework Programme which comes into force in January 2014. The transport component of this programme is worth €7.7 billion and delegates to TRA 2012 will be able to take part in a series of 13 strategic sessions covering all modes and tackling the entire spectrum of activities envisaged by the F
  • Safer vehicles to cut crashes in Brazil
    November 16, 2015
    Brazil’s road death rate could be reduced with safer vehicles. This has been highlighted by a new research report from the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). The report has revealed that 34,000 Brazilian lives could be saved and 350,000 serious injuries prevented by 2030, if UN vehicle safety regulations were adopted and car manufacturers sought to achieve higher ratings in the Latin NCAP crash test programme.
  • Think About Tomorrow Today: CONEXPO Latin America Seminars
    August 18, 2016
    The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) announces that the speaker line-up now includes Chile’s ministry of energy as well as senior thought leaders in Caterpillar, Cummins, Telogis and Americas Market Intelligence. They’ll join keynote speaker Derek Woodgate of the Futures Lab, who is helping guide development of The Tech Experience at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017. Equipment manufacturers and contractors, large and small, face uncertain times. With construction markets still sluggish but showing sig
  • Road safety improving, but vulnerable road users need protection
    January 11, 2013
    Preliminary data from France over the number of fatalities on the road network reveal safety improvements during 2012. The numbers killed dropped by 7-8%, although the final figures for December are not yet available. The preliminary figures suggest that around 3,600-3,700 were killed on French roads in 2012, compared with 3,970 in 2011. This reduction is in line with targets on cutting the death rate and Ministry of the Interior wants to bring the fatality rate to just 2,000 by 2020. This reduction has bee