How Can We Improve the Communication of Railway Safety Information to Teenagers and Young Adults?

Introduction: Fatalities among teenagers and young people occur across the UK rail network each year, with trespass and risk taking behaviours particularly high among 16-25 year olds (RSSB, 2013). Alarmingly almost 40% of the... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction: Fatalities among teenagers and young people occur across the UK rail network each year, with trespass and risk taking behaviours particularly high among 16-25 year olds (RSSB, 2013). Alarmingly almost 40% of the total trespass fatalities in Great Britain involve young people aged 16-25, with a staggering ~35% involving young men of that age (RSSB, 2013). Our research therefore aimed to develop a new set of principles and guidelines to enhance the engagement of teenagers and young adults with rail safety education.
Method: The research consisted of stakeholder interviews (n=44) with safety experts; and focus groups (n=19) with teenagers and young adults drawn from a range of age, gender, socio-economic backgrounds and UK locations. Participants were recruited on a structured convenience basis, sampling participants from the chosen sample groups most likely to be able to provide useful insights into the problem under investigation. Data were analysed using hybrid thematic analysis (Bryman, 2004).
Results: A number of misconceptions about the dangers (e.g., electrocution) and legality of trespass are widespread amongst teenagers and young adults. Many people are unaware that it is illegal to trespass on railway property; Emotional impact appears to play an important role in determining the extent to which safety message are rated as important and successfully communicated amongst teenagers and young people. The use of real life stories , involving the friends and families of people who have committed trespass, appears to be especially effective in getting the safety message across. Safety videos which contain information about the dangers of trespass in the forms of facts (e.g., electrocution voltages, train speeds) were also viewed as important by teenagers and young adults. Providing a mixture of factual information and real-life narrative, and balancing the two, was seen as important tin designing effective safety information; it is important that school-based rail safety education begins early on, ideally within primary schools. School children should be provided with consistent and repeated exposure to rail safety messages within schools; our findings underline the fact that alongside the use of safety campaigns and videos, there also needs to be an equal emphasis on community outreach activities. Community safety activities play a vital role in helping to educate teenagers and young adults about rail safety. Video-based campaigns are a useful medium for reaching out to a mass audience. They are also important in targeting specific groups (e.g., young/teenage men, where the content may need to be sensitive to audience characteristics (e.g., preference for harder-hitting, realistic content). Conclusions: a clear message from our work is the effectiveness of rail safety information and message will vary a great deal according to age, gender and social background. It is important to note that safety messages need to be tailored to the characteristics of the audience and their background.