The use of a graphic imagery in road safety advertising has become commonplace. However, controversy surrounds the use of fear appeals and their ability to influence driver attitudes and behaviour.

In New Zealand, teenage drivers are an ‘at risk’ group with a high accident rate. Even though alcohol is often implicated in these accidents, drivers under 18 have not been specifically targeted by drink driving advertising. Little is known about how teenagers respond to drink driving messages.

This paper attempts to address this gap by investigating the relationships between social or physical threats and adolescents’ drink driving attitudes and behaviours, and the relationships between the adolescent trait of ‘sensation seeking’ and responses to drink driving communications.

The findings indicate that the use of a social threat is no more effective than a physical threat in drink driving communications and that the ‘sensation seeking’ trait is linked to drink driving attitudes and behaviour.