In 2021, 2,220 teens of driving age, died or were seriously injured on UK roads, with 71% of these fatal crashes involving young drivers occurring on rural roads, mostly due to a lack of driving experience and low awareness of hazards. The AA Trust challenged us to raise awareness among inexperienced young drivers of the increased risk they face driving on the UK’s rural roads.
The availability of media is scarce on rural roads, but radio placed us right next to these young drivers. Using radio, we told Caitlin’s story, a teen who fatally collided with a van on a rural road on a rainy night. Caitlin’s Hour was an hour-long radio show, running nationally on Hits Radio Network and Kerrang! Radio, chronicling the last hour of Caitlin’s life, through her mum, best friends, and station presenters, featuring her favourite songs and introducing advice from paramedics and the AA. Using an AA-created map, Bauer ensured coverage across accident hotspots, covering 60% of the top 20 most dangerous rural roads for young drivers, including the A595, where Caitlin tragically died.
The campaign saw an uplift across all stations, doubling across the UK’s top 20 most dangerous rural roads, and tripling near Caitlin’s crash site. Most importantly, the campaign prompted an initiative to create more emphasis on rural roads and a project to give Caitlin’s Message to every new driver on passing their test, as well as editorial coverage, mentions across broadcast, online and print, including The Daily Mail and The Telegraph. The campaign resulted in a 10% uplift in rural areas, gained 500+ press mentions, and won a Campaign Media Award.