Introduction:
In Norway the program Si ifra! (developed by Bjørn Smith-Hald A.S. and translated as “You decide!”) has been successful for many years in order to prevent dangerous driving under youngsters in the age of 17-18. This age group is in Norway most at risk of being involved in traffic accidents. The results of the evaluation of Si ifra! in Norway (n=3.000) show that changes have been made in a positive direction for the road safety of youth behaviour in the case of falling asleep behind the wheel, driving under influence of drugs and car belt use.   In the Netherlands young car drivers are also at risk for crashes and fatal car accidents.

Objectives:
The objective of this project was to implement the Norwegian behaviour changing program Si ifra! to the Dutch situation, and more specific to the local province of Fryslân. Methods First of all an exploration was conducted on traffic accidents and injuries and a comparison was made, on different topics (demography, school systems, accidents, existing programs), of the Norwegian situation to the Netherlands and Fryslân. A pilot session and focus group were successfully performed, after which the implementation of the program started. The implementation was conducted on province level, since provinces (and municipalities) are responsible for traffic education in the Netherlands.

Results:
The exploration and different studies that were executed resulted in the adoption of the program. Small changes had to be made, such as the adjustment of the program name from Si ifra to “Stand up for your ride” and the translation of the program. Dutch session leaders were trained by the Norwegian developers. After Fryslân other provinces were approached and pilots on local level were conducted, resulting in 7 (of a total of 12) active provinces in the Netherlands in 2023.

Conclusions:
Our project shows that it is possible to implement a foreign behaviour changing program. Working principals of behaviour change are without boundaries, especially in those situations were countries are more or less equal.

Keywords: behavioural change, youngsters, car drivers, car passengers, accidents, implementation, focus group. 

Other info:  VeiligheidNL - Amsterdam - Noord Holland - The Netherlands