CREATING MATERIALS

Once you have developed a good understanding of the traffic safety topic and the audience you plan to address and have become familiar with the basic principles of effective health communication, you will be ready to use this knowledge to develop your material.

To exemplify points made in the recommendations, this section uses excerpts from several of the nearly 200 Spanish-language traffic safety items developed by local, state, and national organizations and collected by EST staff. Inclusion does not necessarily mean that EST endorses the accuracy and/or cultural appropriateness of the entire material.

Develop Your Message and Content

Make Sure That the Traffic Safety Content Is Accurate

Draw on your research about traffic safety (described in the Research and Planning section) to be sure that you are presenting the most current and research-based recommendations.

Examples of Materials That Include Accurate Traffic Safety Information

“Los asientos de seguridad y sus hijos, 6 consejos útiles para que los niños pequeños viajen seguros” (2003)

This tri-fold brochure was developed by the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau. An English version, titled “Buckle Up, Kid! 6 Cool Tips to Keep Your Toddlers and Children Riding Safe!” is also available. This material gives parents helpful and accurate technical information on ways to keep toddlers and children safe while they are riding in a car. It also uses photos to illustrate the information presented. The following sections of the selected material contain accurate information about child passenger safety:

• “Children between 40 and 80 pounds and under 4'9" tall (usually 4 to 8 years old) should always ride in a booster seat.”
  
  
• “A booster seat makes the vehicle’s lap/shoulder belts fit correctly: low over the hips and upper thighs and snug over the shoulder.”
  
  
• “Kids over 80 pounds and 8 years old can use lap/shoulder belts without a safety seat if they are tall enough to sit with their knees bent at the end of the seat without slouching. Fit the belt low over the hips and tight and snug over the shoulder.”

Camina con inteligencia, Virginia” (2001)

This tri-fold brochure, developed by the Virginia Department of Public Health, presents accurate facts, uses simple and clear language, and displays the text in a bullet-point format. The following examples from the brochure contain accurate information about school bus safety:

“Los niños deben:

• Estar parados por lo menos 10 pies (3 metros) o cinco pasos grandes de distancia del camino mientras que esperan el autobús.
  
  
• Subirse al autobús solamente cuando esté totalmente detenido.
  
  
• Cruzar la calle por delante del autobús nunca por detrás.
  
  
• Estar alerta!”

Children should:¹

• Stand at least 10 feet (3 meters) or about five large steps away from the road while they wait for the school bus.
  
  
• Board the bus only when it has stopped completely.
  
  
• Cross the street in front of the school bus, never behind it.
  
  
• Be alert!

“Un casco de calce perfecto; 7 pasos fáciles de seguir” (2001)

This colorful, four-fold brochure was developed by the Oregon Department of Transportation with translation by Spanish Communications Group. For each step, the instructions are clear and easy to read, and illustrations show what is being described. The following excerpt provides accurate information about bike helmets.

• “Mídete la cabeza para tener un tamaño aproximado. Pruébate el casco para asegurar que te calce cómodamente en la cabeza sin balancearse de un lado a otro.”
  
  Measure your head so you have the approximate size. The right helmet should fit comfortably without moving from side to side.²
  
  
• “El casco debe quedar horizontal sobre la cabeza cubriendo la frente hasta una distancia de dos dedos de las cejas.”
  
  The helmet should rest horizontally about two fingers over the eyebrow.
  
  
• “Centra la hebilla izquierda bajo el mentón. En la mayoría de los cascos, las tiras del mentón se pueden mover desde la parte de atrás del casco para alargarlas o acortarlas.”
  
  Center the left buckle under your chin. In most helmets, the chin straps can move from the back of the helmet to make them longer or shorter.

“Hechos que lo hacen pensar; 50 cosas que deben saber sobre el alcohol” (2001)

This tri-fold brochure was developed by Journeyworks Publishing in Santa Cruz, California. An English version entitled “50 Things You Should Know about Alcohol” is also available. The brochure presents accurate information using simple language. Here are some examples:

• “Dos de cada cinco personas en los Estados Unidos estarán en un choque relacionado con el alcohol en algún momento de sus vidas.”
  
  Two out of five people in the United States will become involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives.
  
  
• “Manejar borracho es la principal causa de muerte de adolescentes y adultos jóvenes.”
  
  Drunk driving is the number one killer of teens and young adults.
  
  
• “Una lata de cerveza, un vaso de vino y un coctel tienen aproximadamente la misma cantidad de alcohol.”
  
  A can of beer, a glass of wine, and a mixed drink all have about the same amount of alcohol.

Present Content in a Way That Is Culturally Appropriate

As you develop your message and content, combine your knowledge of the audience (as described in the Research and Planning section) with your knowledge of traffic safety. Here are some examples, based on the research presented in Step 3:

• Because personal relationships and community are important to many Latinos , include stories about real people and use spokespersons who have been personally affected by the issue. Rather than describing a crash per se, describe the impact of hurting someone; instead of raising the fear of being convicted for impaired driving, raise the fear of harming someone by drinking and driving (LCAT and Midwest Latino Health Research 2001; Lee, Rivera, and Raftery 2001).
  
  
• Consider whether your audience views police officers positively or negatively. If, for instance, they report negative associations with law enforcement personnel, and you want to educate about penalties for certain behaviors, it probably makes sense to have a person who had received the penalty talking about it rather than a police officer. Or you may want to focus on health and safety rather than on law enforcement.
  
  
• If you are presenting an enforcement-based message (e.g., Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.), portray law enforcement personnel with positive, unthreatening body language.
  
  
• Because rates of safety belt use among Latinos appear to be higher in States with primary enforcement of safety belts (i.e., where motorists can be stopped for not using safety belts), materials destined for distribution in those States should include information about primary enforcement laws.
  
  
• Recent immigrants may be unfamiliar with the United States traffic safety system, so you should describe ways in which the system is different from the one in their country of origin. In some cases, recent immigrants from rural communities may have little or no prior experience with motor vehicles in general or with roads as they exist in the United States. For instance, they may not know that in the United States, just because a pedestrian is breaking the law does not give drivers the right of way. Or they may not know that at a multi-way stop sign, when vehicles arrive at the same time, the vehicle to the right has the right of way.
  
  
• Because recent immigrants may not know where to go for help in obtaining safety devices such as child safety seats or bike helmets, or whom to call about unsafe roadways and sidewalks, include this kind of contact information in your material.
  
  
• Research suggests that families have a big influence on many Latinos’ behavior. For parents, create messages that stress the value of family, such as “Buckle up to protect yourself and keep your kids safe.”
  
  
• Write messages in a positive way. For example, instead of saying, “Don’t drink and drive,” say “Protect yourself—drive sober.”
  
  
• Research shows that many Latinos are unfamiliar with the concept of designated drivers. Describe the role of designated drivers, explain how to anticipate and plan for driving home from drinking events, and provide guidance in how to designate someone in the group to be the sober driver (LCAT and Midwest Latino Health Research 2001).

Examples of Materials That Present Information in a Culturally Appropriate Manner

Por nuestra seguridad (2002)

This twenty-minute video was developed by El Pueblo, Inc., in North Carolina with funding from the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program. It is in Spanish with English subtitles. The video makes a number of points in a culturally appropriate way. It tells the story of a new immigrant family (Miguel, Elena, and baby Maria) from Mexico that comes to live with family members in North Carolina.
Throughout the video, Miguel and Elena are reminded by their family members about the importance of using their safety belts, putting their baby in a child safety seat, and driving sober. Even though the messages are often about law enforcement, the information is given by a family member who cares about the newcomers’ safety.

Navigating the system. Because Miguel and Elena are unfamiliar with the State’s legal and administrative system, family members walk them though the steps of getting a driver’s license. José, a cousin, explains to Miguel that he needs to have insurance on the car he is going to drive. José also says that Miguel needs to have a valid form of ID, a birth certificate, or a Social Security number. José tells Miguel that he will have to take a written exam and a driving test and that he should study the driver’s manual in Spanish. Ana, Jose’s wife, says to Miguel, “Now we have to remember that we are not in our home country. Here the traffic laws are very strict.”³

The impact of individual actions on the family. At one point in the story, Miguel finds himself at a bar with some co-workers and decides not to drink because he knows the consequences of drinking and driving. His friend Raúl chooses not to listen to Miguel’s advice about driving under the influence, drinks, and gets into a crash. Miguel visits Raúl in the hospital and tells him that he thought Raúl was going to die. To this Raúl replies, “Miguel, this is worse—the doctors say that I won’t walk again. If I just listened to you, if I had done what you had said. . . . Now I don’t know how I am going to support my family. I am going to be a burden for them. I would have preferred to die.”

“Los brazos de una madre no son siempre el lugar más seguro” (2002)

This two-sided educational card about child passenger safety was developed by the Indiana Governor’s Council on Impaired & Dangerous Driving. The Spanish and English versions, one on each side, have different photographs and messages. In the English version a law enforcement message reads, “Buckle Me Up Properly. That’s the Law.” The Spanish material focuses instead on health and safety. The material says “Los brazos de una madre no son siempre el lugar más seguro,” which means, roughly, “A mother’s arms are not always the safest place.”⁴ The material recognizes that some Latinos think that holding a child in one’s arms while riding in a vehicle is safe, and it aims to dispel that belief while recognizing that Latino parents want to keep their families safe.

“¿Qué pasa si me para un policia u otro oficial de la ley?” (2001)

This bilingual brochure was developed by NHTSA. The title, “What happens if I’m stopped by an officer of the law?” illustrates the importance of bilingual materials. One EST survey respondent who developed a traffic safety material shared the following story:

“I was informed of one situation where a State trooper in Virginia made a stop. The driver had a copy of the brochure, and he did not speak English. The driver was pointing out a specific paragraph in the Spanish version of the document to the non-Spanish-speaking trooper and [pointing] to the trunk of his vehicle. The trooper scanned the English version, found the paragraph in question, and asked the driver to step out of the vehicle and open his trunk. Located in the trunk was the driver’s hunting rifle. The paragraph indicated that if the driver has a weapon, [he or she] should inform the police officer. The trooper expressed gratitude that they were able to communicate (somewhat) via the brochure and avert a possibly escalating situation.”

¹ English translation by EST staff.

² English translation by EST staff.

³ Quotations are taken from the video’s English subtitles.

⁴ English translation by EST staff.