Development Issues: Road Safety, Health.

Programme Summary

The Bangalore-based NGO, Friends for Life, launched a public road safety awareness campaign in 2002 to promote the wearing of helmets among riders of two-wheeled motorbikes in Bangalore. Entitled "Keep Your head, Wear Your Helmet," the advocacy campaign relied on the Internet to create awareness, increase interaction, and foster behaviour change. In addition to individual citizens, the campaign reached out to corporate managers, who were encouraged to bring the message to their employees. The purpose of this campaign is to decrease the number of motor-vehicle-related head injuries. An immediate approach is to encourage people to wear helmets; while a broader goal includes garnering the critical mass needed to influence the government to take steps to build safer roads and develop education programmes for riders and drivers. Friends for Life's stated objectives are to:

1. To ensure a high percentage of helmet usage among two wheel motor vehicle riders.
2. To develop and improve standards of communication for safety measures.

The organizers believe that the web can be an effective medium to address public interest issues and disseminate campaigns that attempt to change behaviours and attitudes through awareness-raising. The Keep Your Head initiative is one of their first efforts in this direction.

Summary of ICT Initiatives

At the "Keep Your Head" site, interested citizens and communications and resource managers in corporations may access information on road safety and download resources for initiating their own 3-month helmet safety campaigns. The Communi-Kit contains posters, stickers, logos, and wallpaper. These materials are easily downloadable in either JPG or compressed PDF formats that maintain small file sizes.

Informal surveys were conducted prior to campaign launch to assess the underlying reasons for resisting helmet use. Some of those interviewed felt that helmets were a hindrance to visibility; others thought helmets were "uncool" or "uncomfortable", while a few worried they would lose hair due to the poor ventilation. The high cost of reliable helmets, lack of awareness about choosing a good helmet, and insufficient support from the city authorities were other challenges associated with the safety campaign.

These materials highlight, among other things, the effects of head injuries. Messages like "Save your head now, or save it for posterity" (accompanied by an image of a brain in a jar) and "Helmets ruin my hair" (on a tombstone) are designed to shock people into taking responsibility for their own safety.

Detailed instructions and supporting documents are provided to facilitate independent campaign organization. The website becomes a clearinghouse for easily accessible campaign materials that will facilitate and encourage wider participation. Corporations can use these tools to conduct a campaign on their company's Intranet. In addition, visitors to the site are encouraged to post messages on the site's forum and to spread the word to friends, family, and policy makers in their town. As part of the effort to disseminate information, booths were set up in the premises of interested corporations and public venues. These booths were designed to encourage managers, for instance, to conduct "safety month" programmes in-house. Physicians have participated by posting advocacy material in their offices and in their employee newsletters.

Other strategies included urging the Bangalore Traffic Police to post 40 signs with the campaign slogan at prominent traffic points in the city, advocacy efforts to persuade helmet manufacturers to support the campaign by manufacturing safer helmets, and hosting a three-college music concert featuring a local band. In addition, interactive sessions were held at schools, colleges, and corporations. Stickers and merchandise were distributed, and a joint exercise with the traffic police was conducted.

Observations

This website provides an example of individual activism and the use of ICTs for communication of health information. This campaign is primarily the work of the proprietor and his friend/co-worker and is an outgrowth of their private sector jobs. The campaign continues to gain exposure, with a recent article in a major Indian newspaper the Hindu and increased attention and priority from city and government officials.

Partners: Friends for Life, the Bangalore Traffic Police, and i-flex solutions limited.

Source: Press releases and article ("Keep Your Head While You Ride" in The Times of India, January 24, 2003) sent by Anish V. Koshy to The Communication Initiative on January 25, 2003; and the "Keep Your Head" site.

For More Information Contact:

Anish V. Koshy

Assistant Manager - Corporate Communications, Friends for Life

i-flex solutions limited

i-flex center 146

Infantry Road

Bangalore 560001, India

Tel.: + 91 - 80 - 2284300

Fax: + 91 - 80 - 2284313

anish_koshy@vsnl.net

acampaigner@yahoo.com

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