A new subscription-based service has launched to provide local authorities and other road safety organisations with access to a shared library of education and training.
Co-Pilot has been founded by James Evans, with the support of Simon Rewell and Elizabeth Box, experts in behaviour change science and nudge theory.
The library contains a raft of resources, including communications tools such as email templates, SMS-length messages and conversational prompts.
There are graphics and videos of various lengths and formats as well as interactive tools, gamified quizzes and e-learning modules.
This ‘goal-centred toolbox full of tools’ is designed to help subscribers nudge road users towards better attitudes, safer behaviours and higher levels of skill.
This in turn will help them achieve ‘macro-goals’ – such as reducing driver distraction.
James Evans explained: “We like to think of Co-Pilot as the Netflix or Disney+ of the road safety world.
“The idea that organisations that want to reduce road risk pay a small amount of money each year to access a vast library of high-quality content, which is constantly growing and refreshing.
“And like these popular streaming platforms, Co-Pilot believes that accessibility is more important than ownership. We’re as nostalgic as anyone about the good old days of buying our own CDs and DVDs from Woolworths, but it’s hard to argue that being able to watch or listen to pretty much anything we like for less than the cost of one compact disc per month isn’t value for money.
“This model works particularly well when you need access to a wide variety of content. Let’s face it – every road user is different, so you might need hundreds, if not thousands, of knowledge, skill, and attitude nudges to achieve effective, widespread, sustained behaviour change.
“If we take the macro goal of ‘reducing driver distraction’, for example, then a relevant nudge would be to encourage drivers to setup ‘driving focus mode’ on their phones. This would be just one of dozens of nudges that contribute towards the macro goal of fewer distracted road users.”
Traditionally, the solution to address road safety issues has been for every organisation to use their own resources – either those they create themselves or those they commission.
Co-Pilot believes there is minimal benefit to owning road safety content outright – and that there are plenty of reasons to share a toolbox. It says:
- commissioning high-quality content takes a lot of time
- producing in-house content requires experience, equipment and expertise
- maintaining the accuracy of content is a big task in itself
- targeted education means you need lots of content
- designing and building bespoke content is expensive
James added: “Despite having some of the safest roads in the world, the number of people killed or seriously injured on the UK’s roads each year is shocking.
“Some well-intentioned campaigners believe that broad-brush campaigns like the THINK! TV adverts of yesteryear are the solution. In reality, the issues are more nuanced, and the ways in which people consume information has changed beyond recognition.
“Co-Pilot recognises this shift by creating a goal-centred toolbox full of tools that nudge road users towards better attitudes, safer behaviours and higher levels of skill.
“We wish it were as easy as creating a pithy advert and circulating it as widely as possible. But the reality is major behaviour change often requires lots of little steps.”
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