Increasing Seat Belt Wearing and Decreasing Handheld Phone Use While Driving

Summary

The study team is proposing to conduct a randomized controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of behavioral and financial incentives on phone use while driving and seat belt adherence. Each arm will receive a support text if their app is not collecting data. The behavioral engagement intervention includes persuasive education, mental contrasting with implementation intentions, customized habit tips, weekly feedback about participants' streaks, and encouraging SMS texts. The two financial incentive interventions add on weekly raffles or shared pots for participants with perfect streaks.

Conditions

• Distracted Driving
• Impaired Driving
• Driving Behaviors

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Persuasive education

The research team will use psychology and communications research to present information about seat belts and distracted driving in a way that builds intrinsic motivation to change. Because positively framed messages are more effective at promoting seat belt wearing, the team's messaging will employ this framing. Education will address common reasons that survey participants give for not consistently buckling up or for phone use while driving.

BEHAVIORAL

WOOP (aka, mental contrasting with implementation intentions., Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan)

Participants will receive an intervention on improving driving behavior with a specific goal in mind and how to reach that goal. Participants will do this by thinking through 4 parts: a wish, an outcome, an obstacle and a plan. This has been shown to build motivation, and help achieve the desired change.

BEHAVIORAL

Customized Habit Tips

Participants will receive weekly text-message tips, informed by findings from survey responses, plus reminders to address stated obstacles.

BEHAVIORAL

Raffle Financial Incentive

Each week, participants who adhere to seat belt use or abstain from phone use while driving get a chance at prize money. One winner will be randomly chosen for each target behavior and earn prize money; the rest will not receive compensation.

BEHAVIORAL

Shared Pot Financial Incentive

This will be identical to the raffle incentive, except that each week participants who adhere to seat belt use or abstain from phone use while driving will be guaranteed an equal share of prize money.

BEHAVIORAL

Weekly SMS Support text

Participants will receive a support SMS to troubleshoot, etc. if the Way to Drive app is not collecting trip data.

BEHAVIORAL

Weekly SMS Encouragement

Those who have a perfect streak going midway through each week will receive an additional encouraging message cheering them on.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• General Motors (GM)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Pennsylvania

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mucio Delgado · University of Pennsylvania

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-03-12

Primary Completion

2023-06-29

Completion

2023-06-29

Countries

• United States

Study Locations