Your Community Assessment Surveys Are Key
to Achieving a Successful RLR Campaign

As many of you have discovered, gathering 500 completed pre-campaign community assessment surveys - let alone collecting another 500 for post-campaign research - is not an easy task to accomplish. However, the information you acquire from these surveys will help sharpen your campaign strategy and improve your ability to build community partnerships. Keep in mind your survey results must be included in both your final report and in the one FHWA will submit on the national implementation of the RLR campaign.

By now you have probably compiled all of your pre-campaign surveys and tabulated the answers. But do you know how the members of your community really feel about red light running? Do they feel as strongly as you about the problems caused by this traffic violation? Or, do you need to spend extra time and resources educating your community on the economic impact associated with RLR crashes?

Several sites have expressed interest in learning how to analyze their completed surveys. Mila Plosky of FHWA Headquarters, your GEI marketing consultants and Dr. James Swinehart gathered together to determine the best and most efficient manner for interpreting your data.

Referring to a pre-campaign survey analysis report submitted by Linda Ginenthal of Portland, as well as others from Bellingham, Radnor and Richmond, GEI developed the following outline to help sites analyze survey data.

Guideline to Interpret Pre-Campaign Assessment Survey Results

I. Introduction/Survey
Goals

• Why did you conduct these surveys?

• Who was your target audience?

II. Methodology

• How did you conduct the survey: by telephone or mail?
  

• Who actually conducted the survey?

• How many complete
  and incomplete surveys did you gather?

III. Demographics

Who were the people taking part in this survey?
(e.g., % male vs. female, age, profession, education, # of miles driven annually, seat belt use, % having received moving violation citation, driver's education class)

IV. Results
(Tabulate your surveys and briefly describe the following listed below.)

• Traffic violations people recall

• Definition of running red lights

• Frequency of seeing others run red lights

• Seeing the police issue tickets for red lights

• Who runs red lights?

• Why do people say they run red lights?

• Perceptions of the consequences for running red lights

• Transportation advertising (Have these individuals seen any transportation ads?)

• RLR Advertising
  (Reminder: Take into account the percentage who recalled seeing RLR advertising before your kickoff as a validity check when you conduct your post-campaign assessment.)

• Federal Highway Administration

(Have people heard of it? If so, what do they say about it?)

V. Key Findings

• Do drivers in this area regard red light running as more frequent or less frequent than other kinds of traffic violations?

• Is red light running viewed as minor and inconsequential, or as a serious offense?

• Add other findings that you feel are surprising or significant to your campaign.

Site coordinators should reference this guideline when analyzing post-campaign surveys. Remember to include comparisons for each item under "Results" using data from both pre- and post-campaign surveys.
(e.g., prior to the campaign, 70% said running red lights was a minor offense, while following the campaign, 40% answered this way.)

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact your GEI marketing consultant at (301) 656-3100.