Does news coverage of traffic crashes affect perceived blame and preferred solutions? Evidence from an experiment
Traffic crashes are one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States. Nearly 20% of these roadway fatalities are people who were hit and killed while walking or bicycling. Pedestrian deaths increased by 46% between 2009 and 2016. Despite these troubling statistics, there has not b...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198219300727 |
| _version_ | 1818578169750355968 |
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| author | Tara Goddard Kelcie Ralph Calvin G. Thigpen Evan Iacobucci |
| author_facet | Tara Goddard Kelcie Ralph Calvin G. Thigpen Evan Iacobucci |
| author_sort | Tara Goddard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Traffic crashes are one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States. Nearly 20% of these roadway fatalities are people who were hit and killed while walking or bicycling. Pedestrian deaths increased by 46% between 2009 and 2016. Despite these troubling statistics, there has not been a sustained and widespread public call to action to improve road safety. Researchers and advocates are increasingly focused on how traffic crashes are reported in the media, and whether existing editorial patterns contribute to victim-blaming and distract from systems-level solutions. However, no previous study has examined whether editorial patterns in traffic crash coverage actually influence perceptions. This study conducted an experiment in which 999 subjects were randomly assigned to read one of three versions of a news article describing a traffic crash involving a pedestrian. After reading the description, subjects were asked to apportion blame, identify an appropriate punishment for the driver, and assess various approaches for improving road safety. In comparing the three groups, even relatively subtle differences in editorial patterns significantly affected readers' interpretation of both what happened and what to do about it on nearly every measure. Shifting from pedestrian-focused to driver-focused language reduced victim-blaming and increased perceived blame for the driver. A thematic frame significantly increased support for infrastructure improvements. This study provides strong evidence that efforts to change public perceptions of road safety should include a focus on improving editorial patterns in traffic crash reporting. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T06:41:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b4d1bc0c1b7d4b01a4ba62a1a9e6529b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-1982 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T06:41:32Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |
| spelling | doaj.art-b4d1bc0c1b7d4b01a4ba62a1a9e6529b2022-12-21T22:40:40ZengElsevierTransportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives2590-19822019-12-013Does news coverage of traffic crashes affect perceived blame and preferred solutions? Evidence from an experimentTara Goddard0Kelcie Ralph1Calvin G. Thigpen2Evan Iacobucci3Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University, 3134 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA; Corresponding author.Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USAEdward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USAEdward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USATraffic crashes are one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States. Nearly 20% of these roadway fatalities are people who were hit and killed while walking or bicycling. Pedestrian deaths increased by 46% between 2009 and 2016. Despite these troubling statistics, there has not been a sustained and widespread public call to action to improve road safety. Researchers and advocates are increasingly focused on how traffic crashes are reported in the media, and whether existing editorial patterns contribute to victim-blaming and distract from systems-level solutions. However, no previous study has examined whether editorial patterns in traffic crash coverage actually influence perceptions. This study conducted an experiment in which 999 subjects were randomly assigned to read one of three versions of a news article describing a traffic crash involving a pedestrian. After reading the description, subjects were asked to apportion blame, identify an appropriate punishment for the driver, and assess various approaches for improving road safety. In comparing the three groups, even relatively subtle differences in editorial patterns significantly affected readers' interpretation of both what happened and what to do about it on nearly every measure. Shifting from pedestrian-focused to driver-focused language reduced victim-blaming and increased perceived blame for the driver. A thematic frame significantly increased support for infrastructure improvements. This study provides strong evidence that efforts to change public perceptions of road safety should include a focus on improving editorial patterns in traffic crash reporting.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198219300727 |
| spellingShingle | Tara Goddard Kelcie Ralph Calvin G. Thigpen Evan Iacobucci Does news coverage of traffic crashes affect perceived blame and preferred solutions? Evidence from an experiment Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |
| title | Does news coverage of traffic crashes affect perceived blame and preferred solutions? Evidence from an experiment |
| title_full | Does news coverage of traffic crashes affect perceived blame and preferred solutions? Evidence from an experiment |
| title_fullStr | Does news coverage of traffic crashes affect perceived blame and preferred solutions? Evidence from an experiment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does news coverage of traffic crashes affect perceived blame and preferred solutions? Evidence from an experiment |
| title_short | Does news coverage of traffic crashes affect perceived blame and preferred solutions? Evidence from an experiment |
| title_sort | does news coverage of traffic crashes affect perceived blame and preferred solutions evidence from an experiment |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198219300727 |
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