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Given the definition for traffic safety culture (proposed in the first chapter) as the shared beliefs of a group which affect behaviors related to traffic safety, this chapter provides practical guidance on ways to measure traffic safety culture, analyze collected data, and use the analysis to inform interventions. The proposed definition of “shared beliefs” used a behavioral model to inform specifically what beliefs may influence intentional behaviors involved with either reducing or improving traffic safety. This behavioral model provides a framework to guide measurement. Analyses include examining the prevalence of beliefs and behaviors, the relationships between beliefs and behaviors, and identifying “gaps” in beliefs that may be important to address in interventions. Finally, an example of a traffic safety culture program which includes a collecting of strategies working across the social ecology to improve traffic safety is introduced (in this case, seat belt use).

Our commitment to the goal of zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries requires consideration of innovative traffic safety thinking. There is growing recognition that this goal requires a change in our culture as it relates to traffic safety (traffic safety culture). And yet, there is no consensus about a definition for traffic safety culture, no explicit theory-based model to predict the effect of traffic safety culture, and no practical guidance for applying these models to develop effective culture-based strategies. This chapter seeks to address these omissions from both an academic and practitioner perspective.

This chapter proposes a standard definition of traffic safety culture based on a model that integrates relevant theories of willful and intentional behavior. Importantly, a set of 10 principles are identified that provide the context and foundation from which the definition and model are derived. An understanding of these principles provides the logic and purpose for developing strategies that can transform traffic safety culture:

• (1)

  Traffic crashes are a significant public health concern.

• (2)

  Most traffic crashes are caused by human behavior, not the roadway, vehicle, or environment (e.g., weather).

• (3)

  Human behavior is influenced by beliefs.

• (4)

  Beliefs develop based on experience (actual and vicarious) and socialization.

• (5)

  Socialization is the process whereby an individual develops beliefs which align with the culture of a group with which the individual identifies (social identity).

• (6)

  Individuals can form an identity with many different groups in their social environment, each with a different degree of bonding.

• (7)

  A stronger bond results in greater conformity and motivation to abide with the group culture.

• (8)

  The shared beliefs of a group that affect behaviors related to traffic safety are called traffic safety culture.

• (9)

  The traffic safety culture of a group emerges from actions taken by stakeholders across the social ecology.

• (10)

  Traffic safety culture strategies increase actions by stakeholders across the social ecology to improve traffic safety culture among various groups.

Traffic crashes are a significant public health concern.

Most traffic crashes are caused by human behavior, not the roadway, vehicle, or environment (e.g., weather).

Human behavior is influenced by beliefs.

Beliefs develop based on experience (actual and vicarious) and socialization.

Socialization is the process whereby an individual develops beliefs which align with the culture of a group with which the individual identifies (social identity).

Individuals can form an identity with many different groups in their social environment, each with a different degree of bonding.

A stronger bond results in greater conformity and motivation to abide with the group culture.

The shared beliefs of a group that affect behaviors related to traffic safety are called traffic safety culture.

The traffic safety culture of a group emerges from actions taken by stakeholders across the social ecology.

Traffic safety culture strategies increase actions by stakeholders across the social ecology to improve traffic safety culture among various groups.

For the academic, these principles can also serve as hypotheses that can be explored to expand our knowledge about traffic safety culture. For the practitioner, these principles represent the basic logic and impetus for transforming traffic safety culture. By effectively communicating these principles and their connecting logic, we can express the importance of traffic safety culture and the need for supporting resources with other stakeholders.

Chapter 5 opens with a fictional scenario of a Professor of Digital Marketing on the US East Coast, who is making a cup of coffee in the morning and reflecting on the climate impact of the coffee journey at the same time as considering how she could incorporate this knowledge into her lectures in an impactful way. The Professor is considering designing an authentic piece of assessment which leads to behaviour change and has positive impact on society. The mentoring conversation she engages in is with a former colleague who has extensive experience of education-focused initiatives in universities and is an active mentor in great demand in the scholarly community. The conversation builds on Molthan-Hill and Blaj-Ward (2022), a point-of-departure paper about assessing climate solutions in a personally and societally meaningful way.

The synthesis of scholarly literature which follows the scenario and conversation has two points of focus. One is assessment. Relevant literature is referenced to further contextualize themes such as alignment, authenticity, well-being, sustainability, inclusivity and meaningful use of digital tools in assessment to develop identities and spark action. The other is the overlap between mentoring and coaching; a combination of the two is likely to support richer professional development for academics and, consequently, for their students. Climate-focused approaches in coaching have more recently been developed and are being used to facilitate resourceful responses to climate change. Two volumes on climate coaching are reviewed, to offer insights into the process of linking professional knowledge and life experience.

To investigate the association between implementation of clinical governance and patient safety.

A pre-post study was conducted in an Australian health service following the implementation of clinical governance systems (CGS) in the inpatient wards in 2016. Health service audit data from 2017 on CGS implementation and the rate of adverse patient safety events (PSE) for 2015 (pre-implementation) and 2017 (post-implementation), across 45 wards in six hospitals were collected. CGS examined compliance with 108 variables, based on the Australian National Safety and Quality Health Service standards. Patient safety was measured as PSE per 100 bed days. Data were analysed using odds ratios to explore the association between patient safety and CGS percentage compliance score.

There was no change in PSE between 2015 and 2017 (MD 0.04 events/100 bed days, 95% CI -0.11 to 0.21). There were higher odds that wards with a CGS score >90% reported reduced PSE, compared to wards with lower compliance. The domains of leadership and culture, risk management and clinical practice had the strongest association with the reduction in PSE.

Given that wards with a CGS score >90% showed increased odds of reduced PSE health service boards need to put in place strategies that engage frontline managers and staff to facilitate full implementation of clinical governance systems for patient safety.

The findings provide evidence that implementation of all facets of CGS in a large public health service is associated with improved patient safety.

The study reported in this article investigates whether or not consumers from Turkey and New Zealand attach similar levels of importance to various information sources in their purchase decisions and whether they are similar (dissimilar) in their opinions on advertisement in various media. Customers surveyed in Istanbul and Wellington serve as the database. Study results and their implications are discussed.

Drawing upon the Traffic Safety Culture (TSC) perspective, this chapter outlines the reinforcing and transforming functions of advertising and illustrates such approaches by drawing upon examples from Australian road safety advertising campaigns. The argument put forth is that road safety advertising can be a robust tool; it can reinforce other countermeasures (enforcement) as well as transform community expectations and values and thus ultimately contribute to social as well as behavioral change.