Kempen Rakan Trafik @ USM 2009/10
As we embraced the festive period joy of Christmas and New Year, the tragic deaths of 10 passengers killed recently in the infamous double-decker express bus accident shook our hearts right to the core. My mood turned sombre at the sight of these newspaper headlines.
Driver behaviour is a crucial element in road safety. High risk drivers expose their own passengers and other road users to lethal risk. This is an issue that must be addressed with urgency. It is important for us to increase the awareness of all road-users, young or adult, in order to reduce the number of road accidents in Malaysia.
Safety starts with ‘S’, but begins with ‘U’!
Communication Makes Changes (COMEC) consists of final year Persuasive Communication students, School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). In 2010, COMEC is proposing to organize a young driver research program, known as ‘Kempen Rakan Trafik@USM’ in collaboration with Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS)
Past road safety literatures have consistently stressed that not all young drivers are problematic drivers. In actual fact, it is a subgroup of, depending how you wish to call them, “deviant drivers” or “problem young drivers” or “high risk young drivers” causing us all the problems. They possess distinct characteristics, attributes and personalities, different from other young drivers. Efforts to profile these high risk or deviant drivers and to suggest specific intervention programs tailored to the needs of this subgroup are crucial to reduce the numbers of road accidents among youth in Malaysia.
Kempen Rakan Trafik @ USM will adopt an indirect strategy that focuses on the social circle rather than the drivers themselves. Peer groups are known to exert a tremendous influence on youth. Therefore, the campaign seeks to motivate and empower students of the university to speak out against unsafe driving by their drivers. It is hoped that such a positive application of peer pressure can bring about a shift in driving attitudes amongst problematic young drivers.
Also held in conjunction with Kempen Rakan Trafik @ USM are various high-profile exhibitions, workshops, movie sharing, Catch U photo taking competition, Public Service Announcement Competition and many others. A Facebook page is even set up for the campaign at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Penang-Malaysia/Kempen-Rakan-Traffic-USM-KRTUsm/230683011360?v=wall.
PEI YAN
