Risky Driving Attitudes in Ghana: Is the Use of Fear-Based Messages Operational?

Scare tactics are often used in road safety campaigns even though years of research into fear
appeals have yielded inconsistent results. In Ghana, where all efforts are being made to reduce
traffic accidents, the use of fear appeals and threat of enforcement has not been spared. In an
experimental study, the researchers investigated the effectiveness of this message on risky driving
attitude and also explored the effect of an alternative strategy, fear of prosecution. Findings from
this study suggest that fear appeals, fear of prosecution and combination of these two strategies do
not have an effect on risky driving attitudes. These findings are used to make conclusions about the
design of road safety campaigns incorporating such scare tactics.