Department for Transport Road Safety Webchat

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Method(s) Used

Webchat (Methods)

Name of person who posted the project:

Dominic Potter

Location of project:

United Kingdom

Date when the project started:

2007

Date when the project ended/project ongoing:

2007

Background to project:

On November 9 2007, Dr Stephen Ladyman MP - Minister of State for Transport - responded to questions from members of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) about a range of road safety issues. This was the Department?s first webchat.
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Purpose of project:

The webchat was not held as part of a formal consultation. Its aim was to engage a key group of stakeholders on a topic that concerns them and to gather experiential feedback on policies.
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Issues discussed included:

Young drivers;
Driving for work;
Safety education and training;
The Road Safety Act 2006;
Motorcycle safety.
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Invitations to participate were issued in advance via the RoSPA member newsletter and email list and the webchat was advertised to a general viewing audience on the DfT and RoSPA websites.
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Project activities:

The Minister and participants took part in 12 separate discussions. Twenty-six comments were posted in the discussions over the course of the hour-long chat ? 17 by the Minister and there were significantly more spectators than registered participants.
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Project results:

Webchats were new to the majority of users, who were drawn into this particular exercise because of their professional interest in the subject being discussed: 21 said that they had never taken part in a webchat before.
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The majority of people who provided feedback saw webchats as a useful engagement method. On the whole, respondents said they would consider participating in a similar webchat in the future.
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Following the road safety webchat, the Minister participated in a webchat convened by the Prime Minister?s Office on the subject of road pricing. This webchat was arranged in response to an online petition on the Downing Street website in opposition to any proposals for road pricing. The chat attracted over 6000 questions. Over the course of one hour the Minister answered 32 questions.
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Contact details:

To find out more information about road pricing and related information, see the DfT website at www.dft.gov.uk/. For more information on the webchat please go to www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/webchatwiththeroadsafetyminister.
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For more detailed information on this case study, it is also included in the Digital Dialogues Second Phase Report at www.digitaldialogues.org.uk/
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