This project was about designing a road safety campaign targeting young drivers. I had to collaborate with a peer and we decided to create a poster informing young drivers about fatigue driving.

The biggest thing that I learned while completing this task was that driver fatigue was an important issue, particularly for young drivers. I used to think that the issue of driving tired and falling asleep or losing concentration behind the wheel wouldn’t be an issue for me because I was young and had more energy and it wouldn’t affect my age group. Instead, I have found through my research that young drivers can be affected by driving tired because I could be driving home from a party, or tired from a long week of late-night studying. In fact, young adults are four times more likely to drive fatigued and overall account for about two-thirds of all fatigue-related crashes. To be safer, I should plan ahead and only drive when I have had an adequate sleep.
 

Here is the poster we designed below:

We also added a second page, that would include more facts and statistics

One piece of advice I would give to young drivers is to ‘just be safe’, don’t try to ‘risk it for the biscuit’. If you don’t think you’d be safe to drive home, don’t push yourself and try a safer alternative. If you’ve been drinking or if you are tired, don’t try to ‘push through it’, instead make a smarter decision to call your parent, or an Uber to get a safer ride home. I think that most young drivers could get caught out and have to make risky decisions when driving because they want to not rely on their parents anymore, but there is no shame in this if it is ensuring your safety.

 A pledge that I will commit to when I start driving is to put my safety first. I pick this to commit to because driving can be dangerous if you don’t follow the rules or don’t make the best decision. I can stick to this by letting my parents know where I am going to drive, so in case I can’t drive, they know roughly where and when I should be picked up. Or I can plan ahead for myself and my friends if we intend on getting into an Uber. When young drivers such as myself learn to drive, it is inevitable that I, along with many others, will make a poor decision, which could lead to an accident. Therefore, it is unreasonable to pledge that I won’t ever make an accident. Instead, I hope to stick to safe, well-thought driving decisions.