Background

On July 1, 2015, New Hampshire joined a growing number of States that have enacted laws banning hand-held electronic device use while driving. A previous law in New Hampshire banned texting while driving, but it was difficult to enforce. Drivers often texted while keeping their phones out of view of law officers—if they were pulled over, they would argue that they were making a phone call, which had been legal.

State police leadership and the State Attorney General's office pushed strongly for and helped write New Hampshire's hands-free law. To educate the public on the new law and the potentially fatal consequences of distracted driving, New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) has pursued a comprehensive regional marketing campaign—branded as Hands-Free New Hampshire—across radio, television, social media, and web platforms.

A Marketing Push for Safer Driving

Hands-Free New Hampshire is part of a broader road safety effort in New Hampshire called Driving Toward Zero. That effort aligns with the Federal Highway Administration’s Toward Zero Deaths strategy, and promotes a safety culture where the only acceptable number of yearly road fatalities is zero.

Driving Toward Zero programs emerge from collaboration with more than a dozen public and private organizations, including the American Automobile Association (AAA), the Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire, the New Hampshire State Liquor Commission, and the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association (NHADA).

Through these alliances, information about hands-free driving is spreading beyond NHDOT's direct efforts. Posters and brochures have been posted and distributed on the web and at physical locations of NHADA, the Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire, New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and numerous town police headquarters.

Communications consultants work with NHDOT to advance the hands-free campaign and to create promotional materials, including two television public service announcements that run on local cable networks. Across the landscape of State road safety efforts New Hampshire is particularly proactive in working with consultants to promote safe driving practices. NHDOT uses Highway Safety Improvement Program funds to pay for the expertise and media contacts that communications consultants provide.

Targeted Marketing

Because less-experienced, younger drivers are nearly three times more likely¹ as more experienced drivers to have a fatal crash, NHDOT has focused specific efforts to reduce distracted driving among teens. Driver education instructors incorporate distracted driving lessons and information about New Hampshire's hands-free law into their curricula. A safe driving pledge card serves as a conversation starter to engage young people in thinking about their choices behind the wheel.

At conferences held twice per year, driving instructors, school administrators, and NHDOT staff discuss new initiatives to combat distracted driving. NHDOT provides instructors with the latest posters, flyers, and videos to share with their students. The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is also part of the Driving Toward Zero coalition. Drivers at UNH who are slightly older, but perhaps still inexperienced, are exposed to the same life-saving information as teens. As new students from out of State come to the school over upcoming fall semesters, NHDOT staff will continue their education efforts, particularly because some students come from States that have more lax laws on electronic device use while driving.

Key Challenges

New Hampshire's hands-free marketing campaign was implemented to tackle the challenge of helping the public associate Driving Toward Zero with safety-specific programs or legislation. The combination of technical expertise from NHDOT staff and marketing expertise from communications consultants has largely achieved that goal.

The hands-free law was initially met with resistance on social media. NHDOT staff also experienced pushback at safety fairs, auto races, and hockey and football games across the State where they were presenting information on the new hands-free law. Through persistence and patience, those voices have diminished and, anecdotally, NHDOT staff hear from the public that they support the hands-free law.

Benefits Realized

NHDOT staff anticipates feedback from the State police on whether the hands-free law is enforceable. They will also analyze statistics for the second half of this year and hope to see a drop in serious injuries and fatalities.

¹ OSHA URL no longer available.

Contact

James A. Marshall
Administrator
Highway Design
New Hampshire Department of Transportation
603-271-2171
JAMarshall@dot.state.nh.us