Collaborative approach seeks to extend reach and effectiveness of local campaigns

Road safety teams in the Road Safety GB South East Region are using a co-ordinated approach to help reinforce campaign messages to road users in the area.

Through common messages and taglines, the teams hope to create a connection between the local authority areas and as a result, extend the reach of their road safety campaigns.

The Road Safety GB South East Group comprises 20 local authorities and holds a quarterly meeting at which colleagues are invited to discuss and share their plans.

The first meeting to discuss this new collaborative approach took place in March, at which the teams decided to focus on drink-driving during the Euro 2016 football tournament.

While the different teams did not use a common approach or artwork, they all used the theme of ‘even small amounts of alcohol will affect driving’ to underpin activity during this period.

At the July meeting it was agreed to focus on ‘Be Bright Be Seen’ during the autumn months, using the common thread #yourtimetoshine.

Steve Horton, Road Safety GB South East region chair, said: “We are looking to create a connection across south east teams and thereby extend the reach of our activities through a consistent theme or message to road users who travel in our region.

“The plan is not to change local initiatives but to connect things across the region, while encouraging those not as advanced in their planning to consider approaches used by colleagues in the context of good practice.

“As we become better at discussing common activity we hope to integrate specific tag lines or messages across our local activity to produce a golden thread running through our work.”