Northern Ireland Road Safety Monitor 2009

This report continues the series of research monitors on attitudes to road safety
issues in Northern Ireland. Since 1995 the Department of the Environment for
Northern Ireland has commissioned Central Survey Unit to undertake the production
of these monitors. Previous to this a similar series was conducted by Ulster
Marketing Surveys beginning in 1984.

In 2002, the survey was revised and updated to reflect changing driving habits and to
allow new topics to be explored. Whilst some of the original questions, which have
been used since 1995, remained many have been removed and there was a
substantial introduction of new material.

There are four topics covered within the questionnaire namely drinking and driving,
mobile phones, seat belts and fatigue. Respondents have been asked about their
behaviour, their attitude and their awareness regarding these topics. Note that
respondents have not been asked about their awareness of fatigue as there are
currently no advertising interventions relating to this topic.

Respondents think that the three most important factors in causing injuries or
deaths on our roads are:
• People speeding (81%)
• People driving after drinking (66%)
• Carelessness on roads (56%)

Respondents stated they felt the most effective medium for creating an awareness of road safety is TV advertising (77%).