Social
Norms and Traffic Safety:
DWI Prevention and the Promotion of Seat-belt Use
To date, there have
been several projects that have effectively used the social norms approach
to promote various aspects of traffic safety, principally the prevention
of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) and the promotion of seatbelt use.
Among the first
of these was the Minneapolis/St. Paul Prevention Collaborative, a joint
effort of seven private and public colleges in Minnesota that achieved
a 13% reduction in DWI over the course of the three-year project that
began in 1996. More recently, the Montana Most of Us Don't Drink and
Drive project achieved a relative decrease in the percentage of 21-34
year olds in the target areas who reported personally drinking and driving,
as well as a relative increase in the percentage using non-drinking
designated drivers.
Another Montana
Most of Us project effectively used the social norms approach to increase
seatbelt use among adults in a three-year statewide campaign.
Use the links in
the navigation bar on the left of this page to see more information
about one of these projects:
-
Minnesota DWI
- Montana
DWI
- Montana
Seatbelt
**Portions
of the information presented on this page were originally prepared by Michael
Haines and Richard Rice and are printed here with their permission.
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