NHTSA's Communication Campaign Against Distracted Driving

Communication Campaign against Distracted Driving
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Communication Campaign against Distracted Driving
Introduction
My communication campaign focuses on eliminating a significant problem on American highways that causes numerous death, which is distracted driving. Based on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted driving is things that divert the driver's attention on the road, including texting, talking to car occupants, drinking, eating, and concentrating on the navigation or entertainment system among others. In 2020, around 3,142 people died from distracted driving (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2022). For instance, if an individual is driving at 55 miles per hour, taking 5 seconds off the highway is equivalent to covering the length of a football field with a person’s eyes closed. That driver can easily lose focus on the road and hit a pedestrian, moving or stationary object, or collide with oncoming traffic. The importance of this campaign against distracted driving is to promote road safety for all road users. The primary sponsor of the campaign is the NHTSA. NHTSA has always been on the frontline to reduce road accidents caused by distracted driving, which is why the organization will likely achieve its mission by sponsoring this campaign. The potential target audience is individuals aged from 17 to 27 years. The expected outcome is sensitize young individuals why they should concentrate while driving to avoid preventable road crashes that occur from distracted driving (Stiff & Mongeau, 2003). NHTSA will advance its mission by saving people’s lives by making highways safe for everyone. Eliminating distracted driving will improve safety on American highways and significantly reduce road accidents caused by this problem.
Target Audience
The target audience for this campaign is young people between 17 and 27 years. The characteristics, psychographics, demographics, diversities, equities, commonalities, inequities, and other inclusionary information make this group of people more vulnerable to distracted driving. The graph shown below was generated from the data gathered and analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2019, portraying different demographics affected by distracted driving, particularly texting while driving.
Figure 1
Demographics of Drivers likely to Text While Driving in 2019


(Source: /transportationsafety/distracted_driving/index.html)
Figure 1 reveals that individuals aged 17 years and above are likely to be distracted from driving by over 50% due to texting while behind the steering wheel (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). If one distractor is responsible for causing such a high percentage of the likelihood of engaging in distracted driving, then it is evident that this target audience is highly vulnerable. The chosen target audience participates in numerous social activities, including chatting with friends on social media, video calling, taking pictures, driving at high speed on highways, engaging in deep conversations with other car occupants, drinking and driving, and o...