Transforming Safety Culture in the Rural Environment
Abstract
Rural roads experience a disproportionate burden of injury in Georgia as more than one-third of Georgia’s traffic fatalities occurred in rural counties—though only 21 percent of the population lives in rural counties. Historically, across the past decade (2013-2022), there were a higher proportion of unrestrained fatalities in rural counties compared to the Atlanta region and other urban areas. In 2022, 57.5% of the fatal rural passenger vehicle occupants were unrestrained. We initially identified Laurens County as being a hotspot for low belt use and high roadway injuries and fatalities. Laurens County is well below the observed seat belt use with 79.9% compared to the state average of 89.3%.
Understanding the multifaceted dangers associated with rural roads is crucial to developing targeted interventions aimed at mitigating risks. During this session we will provide an overview of our Safe System approach to rural roads, highlighting our pilot “Georgia Rural Roads, It’s About US” project in Laurens County and our results from the Rural Georgia Survey on their cultural beliefs and perceptions surrounding seat belts and highway safety. This project integrated the Safe System approach with an innovative social norming seat belt campaign tailored for Laurens County and informed by the Positive Cultural Framework (PCF). The PCF is a 7-step process centered around the social ecological model of behavioral change.
Key findings from the Rural Georgia Survey showed most reported always/nearly always using a seat belt, seat belt use while driving is strongly correlated with seatbelt use as a passenger, and significant misperception of others’ behaviors.
We are taking a holistic approach to traffic safety culture, and actively involving non-traditional stakeholders and fostering community collaborations, our objective is to empower rural road users to reshape their own traffic safety culture in Georgia and stymie the disproportionate number of roadway injuries and deaths.
Keywords
motor vehicle, rural roads, rural, framework, seat belt, survey, media
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Transforming Safety Culture in the Rural Environment
Rural roads experience a disproportionate burden of injury in Georgia as more than one-third of Georgia’s traffic fatalities occurred in rural counties—though only 21 percent of the population lives in rural counties. Historically, across the past decade (2013-2022), there were a higher proportion of unrestrained fatalities in rural counties compared to the Atlanta region and other urban areas. In 2022, 57.5% of the fatal rural passenger vehicle occupants were unrestrained. We initially identified Laurens County as being a hotspot for low belt use and high roadway injuries and fatalities. Laurens County is well below the observed seat belt use with 79.9% compared to the state average of 89.3%.
Understanding the multifaceted dangers associated with rural roads is crucial to developing targeted interventions aimed at mitigating risks. During this session we will provide an overview of our Safe System approach to rural roads, highlighting our pilot “Georgia Rural Roads, It’s About US” project in Laurens County and our results from the Rural Georgia Survey on their cultural beliefs and perceptions surrounding seat belts and highway safety. This project integrated the Safe System approach with an innovative social norming seat belt campaign tailored for Laurens County and informed by the Positive Cultural Framework (PCF). The PCF is a 7-step process centered around the social ecological model of behavioral change.
Key findings from the Rural Georgia Survey showed most reported always/nearly always using a seat belt, seat belt use while driving is strongly correlated with seatbelt use as a passenger, and significant misperception of others’ behaviors.
We are taking a holistic approach to traffic safety culture, and actively involving non-traditional stakeholders and fostering community collaborations, our objective is to empower rural road users to reshape their own traffic safety culture in Georgia and stymie the disproportionate number of roadway injuries and deaths.
