Vehicle Checks campaign

2 April 2017

This new Highways England campaign is around the issue of “not checking your car before long journeys”. This causes fewer KSIs than other behaviours, but was identified as the behaviour that would be easiest to change. Fewer breakdowns will also lead to fewer incidents on the network, therefore keeping the traffic flowing.

In 2014, there were 38 KSIs which were directly linked to driving without checking that the vehicle was roadworthy. In addition to this, traffic flow is adversely affected by the number of out-of-fuel breakdowns, totaling 7419 in 2015. The challenge we have is to reframe the issue so that drivers are motivated to check their vehicle and a trigger for when to perform the check. Currently the importance of vehicle checks is perceived as negligible.

The target audience is 30-50 year old long journey drivers with families. This will be broadened to include the caravanning audience in phase two – Summer 2017.

The campaign will directly contribute to:

• Making the network safer – reducing KSIs by 40% by 2020
• Improving user satisfaction

Proposition - You wouldn’t expect a pilot to take off without running through checks, so why shouldn’t you take the same approach for an important journey?

The campaign will run through TV , supported by video on demand, radio, display, digital Out of Home all linking to a web page on the Think! website, which shows how to carry out the various checks.

Think! is cobranded on all campaign assets.The campaign will be live for two weeks before the Easter break (14-16 April) which is a key period for significant journeys that will be the most effective triggers for behaviour change.

Support material including downloads are available here for your use .