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Strategic Highway Safety Plan Community of Practice
MANY STAKEHOLDERS, ONE SHSP COMMUNITY

SHSP Spotlight

Louisiana Transportation Safety Campaign Calendar 2017

Consolidated and comprehensive safety campaign calendar. The SHSP CCC develops a comprehensive and consolidated safety campaign calendar for all stakeholders to use.

Louisiana’s SHSP Communications Coordinating Council

An effort to coordinate consistent safety messaging to reach Destination Zero Deaths

Contact: The Communications Coordinating Council (CCC) may be contacted through the Louisiana Center for Transportation Safety at lasafetycenter@la.gov 225-767-9718

When it comes to synergizing the communicators—the “safety message bearers” so to say—Louisiana has got it going through the Strategic Highway Safety Plan’s (SHSP) Communications Coordinating Council (CCC). The purpose is simple: to coordinate, collaborate and communicate consistent safety messaging across the state. The council members make every grassroots advocacy or state-level outreach initiative relate back to the overall vision of Destination Zero Deaths and that ‘one death is too many.’

The Louisiana Center for Transportation Safety (LCTS), which was formed in early 2015, takes the lead in coordinating efforts undertaken by the CCC, including the development and implementation of the SHSP Communication and Marketing Plan. In the Communication and Marketing Plan, you will find the media types, communication strategies, core messages and activities that Louisiana is utilizing to increase highway safety awareness to targeted audiences. You will also find a consolidated and comprehensive calendar of safety campaigns as well as “program snapshots” of each of Louisiana’s SHSP four emphasis areas: Occupant Protection, Impaired Driving, Crashes Involving Young Drivers, and Infrastructure & Operations.

Partners working with the LCTS in the CCC effort are the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD)’s Communications team, the LA State Police’s Public Affairs division and their respective Troop Public Information Officers (PIO) PIOs, the LA Highway Safety Commission’s PIO, the LA Transportation Research Center’s (LTRC) multimedia experts, and the coordinators of the nine Regional Safety Coalitions that implement the SHSP at the local level. Representatives from FHWA Louisiana Division Office, DOTD Highway Safety Section and Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation Safety (CARTS) are also involved.

The CCC is working toward consistency in messaging by promoting the same message during specific period for all partners in highway safety. This is done by creating and using yearly safety campaign calendar. This calendar was mapped out by combining NHTSA’s communications calendar with Louisiana-led PSA campaigns and other campaigns led by five other national and state agencies (AASHTO, National Safety Council, Network of Employers for Traffic Safety, American Traffic Safety Services Association, and the United Nations Road Safety Action). This effort has resulted in substantial systemic improvements in communication among LADOTD, the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, the Louisiana State Police troops, regional safety coalitions, and local LHSC grantees. The CCC Highlights below are specific examples to these improvements.

The CCC effort has also heightened the use of national and state-specific materials targeted at increasing public safety awareness and fostering inter-agency communication at the same time. The council meets at least quarterly via conference call or in person meeting.

Getting people to sign on our Safety Pledge Board at the Governors Safety and Health Expo.

Getting people to sign on our “Safety Pledge Board” at the Governors Safety and Health Expo.

CCC Highlights

Highlight #1: In support for the SHSP outreach, the Council has helped in some outreach efforts via presentations, exhibits, and promotional activities at approximately 25 local and state-level meetings and conferences, including the 2016 Louisiana Transportation Conference, Louisiana Governors Safety and Health Expo and Louisiana Police Chiefs Conference. View photo gallery. (Site no longer available: http://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/lcts/photo-gallery.html)

Highlight #2: The CCC collaborated with LTRC’s Publications and Digital Media department to increase safety messages posted on LTRC’s Facebook feed. In one year, postings portraying safety messages (research results, news articles, public education campaigns, etc.) increased a five-fold.

Highlight #3: The CCC members authored the “Louisiana’s Regional 4E Approach” poster which was accepted and displayed at the 2015 Lifesavers Conference. Participating posters were estimated to reach at least 50% of the 2,000+ conference attendees.

Louisiana’s Regional 4E Approach poster

Highlight #4: In 2016, the CCC has assisted with producing scripts, toolkits, press release and social media content to support Louisiana’s DZD safety campaigns promoting messages like Be A Roll Model, Roundabouts Save Lives, and Do Not Stop on the Tracks. The Louisiana DOTD partnered with the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters and Louisiana Radio Network for placement of the 30-second PSA in all radio and TV stations across the state. The CCC helped in coordinating with state agencies and regional safety coalitions in disseminating the messages via social media. The roundabout safety PSA alone had a total placement of 5,326 TV ads and 12,485 radio ads. On social media, it earned 63,580 views and reached 119,810 people.

screenshot from Louisiana&rsquo's Be A “Roll” Model bike safety campaign ad    screenshot from Louisiana&rsquo's roundabout safety campaign ad    a truck at a railroad crossing

Louisiana safety campaign on Move Over law

Louisiana safety campaign on Move Over law


Highlight #5: The CCC synergized the state and local safety champions in disseminating the Louisiana Safety Campaign on ‘Move Over, Save a Life’ that earned a total of 279,366 views via social media.

Louisiana State Police partnered with the Office of Governor, LADOTD and LHSC to conduct the Move Over Campaign from November 14 to 20, 2016 in support for AASHTO’s Incident Awareness Week.

Highlight #6: The CCC, through the LCTS, disseminates the monthly e-newsletter called Traffic Safety Roundup to approximately 500 stakeholders per issue. The first issue was released on November 21, 2015, and so far, there have been 14 monthly editions and 4 special editions circulated. This e-newsletter is designed to provide the latest in local and national resources, tools, in-person and online training announcements, and links to safety stakeholders. As a ripple effect, the regional coalition coordinators do a great job at disseminating this information to their local partners and constituents.

Based on the open rate via Constant Contact (an e-marketing tool used in circulating the Traffic Safety Roundup), we have increased knowledge regarding local, state, and national safety initiatives among 35% of the target audience. “Open rate” is a measure used to indicate how many people “view” or “open” the mail.

Noteworthy Practices

Noteworthy Practices
Learn how states are planning, implementing, and evaluating their SHSPs.  View SHSP-related Noteworthy Practices.

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Contacts

RSPCB Program Point of Contact
Felix Delgado, FHWA Office of Safety
Felix.Delgado@dot.gov
FHWA Office of Safety

Staff and Primary Work Responsibilities
FHWA Office of Safety

Safety and Design Team
FHWA Resource Center