The LHSC’s Facebook and Twitter pages already have more than 22,000 followers, and the state agency is looking to reach even more people on its new Instagram account, @lahighwaysafety. The new page hosts LHSC-produced content, including “Safety Minute,” a new series of monthly short videos about driving topics. “Safety Minute” also will be posted on LHSC’s Facebook and Twitter feeds.
Instagram, a visual sharing app, is one of the fastest growing social media platforms and now is second only to Facebook in number of users. Instagram’s audience skews younger, reaching about two-thirds of U.S. adults under the age of 30.
“It’s vital that we communicate with younger people so we can help them develop safe driving habits,” LHSC Executive Director Lisa Freeman said. “Adding Instagram to our public outreach efforts can help us reach those younger drivers.”
In 2019, drivers under the age of 25 were involved in more than 17,000 crashes on Louisiana roads that resulted in people getting hurt or killed, according to data from the Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation Safety at LSU. And, although drivers under 25 comprise less than 14 percent of all Louisiana drivers, they were involved in more than 20 percent of all injury and fatality crashes, according to the CARTS data.
Freeman said LHSC sees social media as a valuable tool in communicating information about drunk and drugged driving, seat belt usage, work zone safety, distracted driving and other important topics to all drivers. The agency’s Facebook and Twitter pages have shown consistent growth in followers over the past several years, while the Instagram page has just launched within the pastwo weeks.
“We hope everyone in Louisiana follows @lahighwaysafety on Instagram, as long as they don’t do it while they’re driving,” Freeman said.
