Driving = Responsibility

Objective

To offer a working model dedicated to the dangers of drinking and driving applicable in “The Class Hour” in high schools.

To prevent drunk driving among 18-25 year olds.

To inform 18-25-year-olds about the dangers of drinking and driving.

Description

The project was designed as a two-year programme which could continue independently thereafter. Discussions were held in 12th grade pupils’ “The Class Hour” which is dedicated to discussing topics that are interesting and important for pupils. Tools provided included:

"A second Chance" short film.
"Driving = Responsibility” comic book.
“Be responsible – do not believe in myths” comic book shattering the myth of being able to sober-up quickly.
A teacher's guide on how to organise a discussion on the topic, including key starting points and important messages.

Although the focus was on schools, universities and students were also targeted. Tools were created included a screening of the short film "A second Chance" and improvisational theatre performance on the "Driving=Responsibility" topic. These events were organised and carried out by Pernod Ricard in cooperation with universities.

The programme materials were available on the dedicated website (no longer live).

2015/2016 - first year of the project – Pilot: The pilot was launched at the end of October 2015 and ended in June 2016 (the end of school year 2015/2016).

2016/2017 - second year of the project: In the second year, the project attracted partners which enabled it to expand to driving schools. In an addition the traffic police will hand out the “Be responsible – do not believe in myths” comic book to all new drivers that receive a driving license.

Partners

Partners from the second year:

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (Traffic Police Department)
Union of Bulgarian Drivers
Bulgarian Association of car accident victims
Parents Association
spiritsBulgaria (ran their own support activities)

Results

Over the course of the campaign almost 20,000 pupils were reached.

2018/2019: 400 discussions were held in high schools.

2017/2018: 40 schools from 20 cities took part reaching more than 5,000 pupils.

2016/2017: 200 discussions held in high schools, 4 lectures held in universities and 40 discussions held in 23 driving schools on the topic.

2015/2016: 14 schools from 13 cities took part reaching more than 700 pupils. 4 universities and 150 university students took part. The project won the "Award for Road Safety" 2016 in "companies and corporations" category of the "Annual Awards for Road Safety" (www.nagradi.org). The contest is organised by Bulgarian traffic police, Bulgarian association of victims in accidents and "People, roads, cars" radio show.

Measurement & evaluation

External independent evaluation took place at the end of the first year of the project. Results show:

95% of teachers that took state that is useful and necessary to talk about drink driving during the “class hour”.
100% of the teachers stated that the educational tools were interesting for their pupils and that they would use them again.
100% of the teachers would recommend the programme to colleagues.
89% of pupils stated that the tool was interesting; 57% of which learned something new.
85% of pupils would not drink and drive and 90% would not get into a car with a driver who had been drinking after taking part in the programme.