National Media Forum on Highway Safety
Developing a Strategic Communications Plan

INTRODUCTION

Building and executing a knowledge-based communications plan affords traffic safety advocates the best opportunity to build awareness and to change road safety behaviors among target audiences. NHTSA’s new national communications plan lets you know what you can expect from the agency in terms of earned media and supporting materials. The plan goes beyond detailing components of two, high-visibility national mobilizations for occupant protection and impaired driving. The national plan gives you a framework (with suggestions and technical assistance) for building your State’s communication plan in such a way as to coordinate State and national efforts. In doing that, we can keep safety belts and impaired driving top of mind in your communities during the 47 weeks of the year outside the scope of the two national crackdowns. This session will:

• Discuss how some States are implementing year-round communication plans and the
  lessons they are learning in that effort;
  
  
• Discuss different roles inherent in national and State plans;
  
  
• Underscore how you can build on the comprehensive, proven approaches called for during the two national mobilization periods; and
  
  
• Review resources in NHTSA’s national plan to use and modify in order to forge highly
  effective community partnerships that generate proactive media coverage and that yield desired results during the “dark times” of the year.
  

KEY QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

To make this session more relevant to your needs, consider the following key questions:

• Does your State have a proactive communications plan and if so, will it work in concert with the NHTSA national plan? If you do not have a plan, what prevents you from having one?
  
  
• What are State- and community-specific opportunities for you to build on for advancing safety belt and impaired driving issues during the “dark days” of the year?
  
  
• What steps can you take to broaden the array of partners to help deliver the messages in your communications plan?
  
  
• In what way does your plan account for the cultural differences of the audiences you are
  trying to reach?
  
  
• How can the national plan position issues so you can better leverage the information?

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The NHTSA National Communications Plan

Probably nothing is more important to your communications efforts than having a well-thought-out plan to deliver your life-saving highway safety messages to your intended audiences.

Over the past three years, NHTSA’s Office of Communications and Consumer Information has worked with our researchers, both in-house and with our public relations contractors, to better pinpoint our audience and identify specific messages and methods to reach the American public to change behavior on important highway safety issues – specifically wearing safety belts and reducing impaired driving.

The resultant National Communications Plan¹ is the result of extensive research. The plan will give you an idea of what NHTSA has identified as key targets of opportunities to reach specific audiences at specific intervals throughout the year. It is intended to provide you with a “roadmap” as you design and implement all of your transportation program activities and media and communications programs and activities.

The plan is meant to serve as a point of reference for what NHTSA is doing at the national level, and we will be offering regular updates and support materials online for your timely retrieval and use in advance of each calendar event.

We hope that you will continue to support the Click It or Ticket mobilization and the You Drink & Drive. You Lose. crackdown, and choose to promote key messages at other opportunities throughout the year, according to your audience and needs. We’ll give you the tools – you choose the times, message, and means.

This is a dynamic document. It will continue to evolve as research and emerging technology change, and we continue to pinpoint our audience(s) and the most effective means of increasing belt use and reducing impaired driving.

¹The National Communications Plan is contained in a separate page.

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