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3 Guidelines

3.1 Twelve key elements

The consultation process identified twelve key elements of good practice supporting both the development of road safety programmes and project implementation.

Developing the Road Safety Plan

G1 Identify the road safety problems and set targets

G2 Develop appropriate inter-agency working

G3 Identify initiatives and balance resources

G4 Manage staff and resources effectively

Implementing the Road Safety Plan

G5 Identify initiatives and set clear SMART objectives

G6 Ensure staff time allocations and costs are realistic

G7 Use existing resources to minimise start-up and running costs

G8 Adhere to objectives and seek to achieve targets set

G9 Work with other professionals

G10 Evaluate progress with initiatives on a regular basis

Monitoring and Evaluating the Road Safety Plan

G11 Monitor and evaluate progress with programme on a regular basis

G12 Identify inefficiencies and work to resolve them

Guidelines 1-4 and 11-12 refer to the road safety planning process. Guidelines 5-10 refer to the organisation of individual initiatives or projects.

Figure 3 shows how an individual initiative project cycle sits within the road safety planning cycle. The road safety planning process informs the planning of individual initiatives and is subsequently informed by feedback from the initiatives. In a complementary way, the individual initiative is informed by the wider road safety planning process and informs it with its own monitoring and evaluation. The twelve elements of good practice are also located in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Link between road safety planning and project cycles

3.2 Developing the Road Safety Plan

The good practice guidelines start with the development of the Road Safety Plan, but by no means should it be assumed that this is automatically the starting point. The development of the Road Safety Plan should be directed by the monitoring and evaluation of existing road safety initiatives and a review of road accident statistics.

The Road Safety Plan is a vital component of the Good Practice Cycle, setting out road safety objectives and identifying initiatives to meet them, identifying and managing available resources and developing inter-agency working relationships where appropriate. Good Practice Guidelines 1 to 4 explain the key components that together create an effective Road Safety Plan.

This is the process in which you say what you do in terms of a road safety action plan.

G1 - Identify the road safety problems and set targets

It is essential that the Road Safety Plan clearly defines the road safety problems. This should be achieved by scrutinising accident data and other available intelligence and by consulting with other professionals. A review of road accidents must be carried out to identify the road safety problems and any emerging trends. Whilst it is accepted that both local authorities and police forces wish to carry out their own analyses of data, it is strongly recommended that they work closely together and with other stakeholders to agree the common road safety problems they need to tackle. It is recommended that objectives are set which provide a clear statement of purpose for the planning and implementation of road safety initiatives.

Targets to reduce road accident casualties must also be set to complement objectives. Targets provide a reference against which to measure progress toward the achievement of objectives. Importantly, they also provide a measurable goal to strive for which may be re-set once achieved in order to maintain momentum.

It is recommended that short-term targets are set - for no more than three years - rather than simply setting the government target for 2010: the 2010 target may feel over ambitious in the early stages of planning and implementing initiatives.

G2 - Develop appropriate inter-agency working

The case studies indicated that the areas in Scotland achieving greater casualty reductions have in place either formal structures, or very effective informal structures, for inter-agency working.

Tackling road safety issues demands the expertise of an array of professional disciplines not just, for example, the road safety engineer or the RSO. Road safety is most effective when all relevant disciplines work closely together and share their resources.

Without a specific Road Safety Plan, road safety may only be considered as a sub-section of a council's Local Transport Strategy ( LTS) which may feed the notion that road safety is a problem that should only be tackled by road and transport professionals. Developing a Road Safety Plan is a useful - if not essential - tool. A Road Safety Plan differentiates road safety from the status of an LTS sub-section to being a free-standing document which fosters an inter-agency approach to its development and implementation.

Effective inter-agency working is not about having a "talking shop" but rather, it is built upon clearly defined roles and a commitment by all partners to the approach. Rather than convene single multi-disciplinary meetings to cover all road safety activities, there is clear value in holding meetings with fewer members to deal with specific issues or groups of issues. Meetings should be attended by staff with appropriate decision-making powers. Ideally, managers should ensure that meetings are well-structured and convened to deal with specific agendas.

The inter-agency approach should be present throughout the Good Practice Cycle.

The working groups are chaired by different organisations depending on the purpose of the group. This ensures that the working groups are not dominated by one road safety agenda. Co-ordination between groups is maintained by a representative from Aberdeen City Council who sits on every working group. Chairing of the NESRWG rotates to give every member the opportunity to set the agenda.

G3 - Identify initiatives and balance resources

It is essential that the Road Safety Plan clearly defines the road safety problems by classifying them, as appropriate, by road user type, by environmental conditions, by location and by behavioural factors such as speeding, or a combination of these. Once the problem has been classified, the choice of an appropriate initiative should be informed by previous experience of tackling similar problems, and by tapping into the experience of other organisations. Inter-agency working is essential.

Casualty accidents by road-user type (for example; motorcyclist, pedestrian, etc) may be treated by traffic management, infrastructure improvements, education, and/or improved enforcement.

Casualty accidents by the environmental conditions recorded at the time of an accident may be treated by carriageway improvements such as anti-skid surfacing or junction re-design.

Casualty accidents may be examined by location to identify clusters, which can be treated by traffic management, infrastructure improvements, and/or improved enforcement.

Casualty accidents associated with specific behaviour may be treated using education, new technology enforcement and/or other mass action plans.

At this stage, it is not the aim to develop fully worked-up initiatives, rather it is to identify appropriate ones before going on to consider their viability against the resources available.

Balancing resources is a key task. The Road Safety Plan needs to have a clear focus on a priority programme of initiatives based on decisions about what will be done and what will not be done.

There is evidence that some organisations do not have clear priorities and, consequently, seek to address more issues than they can manage. This inevitably leads to a failure to meet priority requirements which can lead to a downward spiral of low achievement and poor staff motivation.

It is recommended that fewer well-resourced initiatives are identified, rather than too many poorly-resourced (or completely un-resourced) initiatives. The evidence suggests that organisations which have a manageable set of clear priorities are more in control of their resources, and tend to achieve their targets. Where resources are not available within the local authority, there may be benefit in considering the use of external resources, for example consultants or other local authorities.

It is often good practice to undertake a short-term research project to determine the most appropriate response to an identified problem. In this way, organisations can significantly reduce abortive time and expenditure that may be spent attempting to address the problem in an ad-hoc manner. Such research projects will need to be resourced and timetabled.

G4 - Manage staff and resources effectively

Road safety is best administered in a working environment where staff are motivated and personally committed to the organisation's road safety strategy.

In order to achieve this, it is essential that all staff are clear on what their organisation's road safety goals are and how they are performing in achieving these goals. The Road Safety Plan should act as a point of reference for this information.

It is also vital that staff are given appropriate training and resources to undertake their duties, and that they are organised to ensure they are employed effectively. Where practicable, there is clear merit in employing dedicated road safety professional staff. These professionals will have the training, contacts, commitment and expertise required to meet the demands of a lively programme of initiatives. Staff who share their time with other duties are very often stretched on other work, and find themselves unable to meet their full road safety commitments.

Effective monitoring of staff performance can help with motivation, by providing constructive feedback and ensuring they are performing effectively. The process of developing a Road Safety Plan should incorporate an assessment of available resources (staff and budget) against road safety goals and initiatives to ensure they are achievable.

Forums which facilitate the exchange of experience and knowledge between road safety professionals should be encouraged. They give the opportunity for professionals to share knowledge and information on how they have successfully administered and delivered effective road safety initiatives. Experience of good practice can be exchanged within the context of a formal training session, through the establishment of an inter-agency forum, or through a session organised by a professional body.

3.3 Implementing the Road Safety Plan

Implementation of the Road Safety Plan is carried out by different professionals. For example, if the Road Safety Plan identifies the need for an education initiative in primary schools, this is likely to be taken forward by RSOs and the education department. Likewise, initiatives focusing on road safety engineering would be taken forward by engineers. The Road Safety Plan identifies the initiatives to be taken forward but it does not plan in detail each individual initiative to be implemented.

Each initiative must be planned, implemented, monitored and evaluated before being fed back into the strategic Road Safety Planning Cycle.

Planning initiatives

This is the process in which you say what you do in terms of individual road safety initiatives.

G5 - Identify initiatives and set clear SMART objectives

It is essential that the road safety problem has been clearly researched and defined in the Road Safety Plan so that it is clear what the initiative is seeking to solve. The Road Safety Plan should also have identified an appropriate initiative but it may not have been planned in any detail. It is the responsibility of those tasked with implementing an initiative to ensure that it is designed to achieve the desired effect. This will be most effective if SMART objectives are set.

SMART objectives are common sense, and are embedded in government guidelines on developing and justifying solutions to transport problems ( STAG¹). SMART objectives are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timed

It is true that SMART objectives can sometimes be difficult to set, as they can demand more thought and impose greater accountability than more vague statements of intent. Nevertheless, it is an essential part of any venture to have thought through what you are planning. In this way, SMART objectives offer a focus on the work in hand and:

• may engender a shared enthusiasm for their achievement
• will allow problems to be resolved within a defined framework
• will provide a framework to evaluate success

The SMART objectives for an initiative will not be expressed solely in terms of casualty reduction but rather in terms of thresholds and timescales relating to the service being provided. For example:

- for education initiatives, the objectives may relate to:

• the scope and quality of the service provided
• its penetration in terms of outreach measured by the number or proportion of people in the target group receiving the service
• the timescale involved
• observed change in attitudes and behaviour

- for engineering initiatives, the objectives may relate to:

• identifying high-risk locations
• completion of an expenditure programme
• the timescale involved
• achievement of expected casualty reductions

- for enforcement initiatives, the objectives may relate to:

• identifying an appropriate enforcement method
• its penetration in terms of outreach measured by the amount of enforcement achieved
• the timescale involved
• observed change in compliance

¹ Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidelines, Scottish Executive, 2001

G6 - Ensure staff time allocations and costs are realistic

As resources are finite, it is important when planning an initiative, to identify and quantify carefully all the resources that will be required for its successful development and implementation. Failure to undertake this task properly could result in the initiative being delivered ineffectively or, worse, not being delivered at all.

Quantifying the resources required early in a project's life will allow the promoter to identify any funding or staffing shortfalls, and maximise the opportunities to take appropriate action to resolve the situation. It may also make it possible to approach politicians for extra resources. Alternatively, it may be possible to procure extra resources (staff and/or funding) from another budget, department or organisation, in order to deliver the initiative successfully. However, if additional resources cannot be readily procured, consideration should be given to curtailing the scale of the initiative, or deciding not to proceed. This will allow valuable resources to be redeployed more effectively.

G7 - Use existing resources to minimise start-up and running costs

Given the finite resources that exist for administering road safety, it is essential to identify common-sense and innovative methods for assembling resources, to allow important initiatives to be developed and implemented. Some organisations have particularly modest funding and staff resources, and it is necessary for them to use existing resources to minimise start-up costs and to facilitate the delivery of road safety initiatives.

Often the start-up costs can be seen as a barrier to the development of initiatives, particularly where there is a need for research and development to design resource materials. This is especially the case with educational, multi-media materials and other initiatives where methods of working need to be developed. It is often the case that similar initiatives have already been implemented elsewhere, and that these existing resources/methods of working may be available at little or no cost.

When an organisation does not have the staff resources or specialist skills to investigate a problem or develop and implement an initiative, it is possible for them to outsource some or all of the tasks to an external public or private sector organisation. This approach is of particular use when an organisation receives a significant amount of funding for an initiative, but does not have adequate staff to deliver it effectively.

In situations where staff resources exist but funding is not adequate to deliver effective road safety initiatives, it is possible for different organisations with common objectives to share funding and work together. A number of examples exist where different departments within a local authority have pooled resources to deliver an initiative that satisfies a common goal. There are also examples where public sector organisations have procured funding from corporate bodies who wish to promote initiatives within their local community.

Implementing initiatives

This is the process in which you do what you say in terms of implementing individual road safety initiatives.

G8 - Adhere to objectives and seek to achieve targets set

The need to continue to adhere to objectives during the life of an initiative is an essential part of project management. Expenditure and resource allocations will have been justified against a set of objectives and, if these change, there will need to be a re-appraisal of the initiative. This should form part of a continuing process of review and evaluation to ensure that, as problems arise or underlying trends change, the programme of work can be adjusted in a timely manner. This may lead to a readjustment of an initiative or to a re-allocation of resources to other existing or new initiatives. Where there is no change in the objective or assumptions regarding their achievement, a clear focus on the objectives should be maintained.

All key agencies engaged in administering road safety should be committed to achieving all targets, in order to ensure that the safety of all road-user groups in the community is properly addressed. Certain targets are more readily achieved than others, and it is important to ensure that problems which offer a simple solution do not take precedence over the more challenging issues.

Continuous monitoring of the effectiveness of all road safety activities against targets is essential, to ensure that progress is being made towards achieving the targets, and that no specific target receives a disproportionate level of resources.

A number of local authorities who have been successful in meeting all the 2010 government targets have set stricter targets for themselves, against which they regularly assess performance.

RSOs in Grampian are regularly appraised by their Senior RSO and by primary school teachers. This ensures that the quality of road safety education is maintained at the highest standard and is in accordance with the service delivery plan.

G9 - Work with other professionals

It is recommended that, where appropriate, the inter-agency working fostered during the development of the Road Safety Plan should be continued into the implementation of initiatives. By doing so, it ensures the initiative is delivered effectively, meeting the goals of all agencies involved.

Both formal and informal inter-agency groups provide good forums for promoting interaction between professionals. It is possible for professionals to input their experience, and ensure their organisations' goals are being addressed at two different levels within the context of an inter-agency working group, namely:

• a strategic level, through the working of a steering group
• an implementation level, through the functions of a working group

Road safety professionals can make an important contribution to the effective and efficient delivery of initiatives which are being promoted by those who would not consider themselves experts in the administration of road safety. Examples of this type of initiative include:

• Road maintenance
• Home Zones
• Safer Routes to School
• Community Safety Partnerships
• Community Planning Partnerships

Monitoring and evaluating initiatives

This is the process in which you prove that you do it in terms of individual initiatives.

G10 - Evaluate progress with initiatives on a regular basis

Monitoring and evaluation is a key process in the project cycle as it forms the feedback link between planning and implementation. It is often not carried out.

Reviewing the progress of an initiative on a regular basis allows organisations to assess performance and, if necessary, to take appropriate action. It also ensures that the organisation's finite resources are being used effectively. Evaluation of performance against strategic goals, and also against individual initiative goals, should be undertaken.

Project evaluation is also an effective tool for organisations that wish to review their progress and prioritise their resources on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis.

It is important within an initiative that a clear focus is maintained on its evaluation. Only in this way can a full and robust assessment of its effectiveness be made. Formal reports on monitoring and evaluation need to be prepared and fed into the overall road safety planning process.

3.4 Monitoring and evaluating the Road Safety Plan

In this section, we turn to the monitoring and evaluation of the wider road safety programme, which can only be regarded in terms of the sum of its parts. This is the process in which you prove that you do it in overall programme terms.

G11 - Monitor and evaluate progress WITH PROGRAMME on a regular basis

This is a key part of the road safety planning process: without monitoring and evaluation there is no objective basis on which to base decisions about investment in road safety.

It is recommended that annual reviews of Road Safety Plans are undertaken and that they should be renewed at least every three years. This enables the local authority and its partners to review and refresh their programmes of initiatives frequently.

Those responsible for the overall road safety process require feedback from the monitoring and evaluation carried out for each individual initiative.

The success of the overall programme can be monitored by changes in casualty numbers. By relating these changes in casualty numbers to the feedback from the individual initiatives, the relative effectiveness of individual initiatives can be estimated. Accordingly, informed decisions can be made about the road safety programme and whether or not individual initiatives should be continued, modified or discontinued.

It is important that a clear focus is maintained on what is more effective and what is less effective. Only in this way can a full and robust assessment be made of the overall road safety programme in order to aid decision making and promote best value.

G12 - Identify inefficiencies and work to resolve them

Road safety initiatives must be delivered using finite resources. It is important, therefore, that every opportunity is taken to deliver initiatives efficiently in order to maximise the effectiveness of the programme.

Inefficiencies may accrue through:

• poor management
• the design of inefficient or ineffective initiatives
• failure to monitor initiatives
• ineffective budget management

Management, therefore, at all levels needs to be aware of the potential for inefficiencies to creep in and needs to maintain a critical, but constructive, view of the feedback received on all road safety activities. Where inefficiencies are evident, management will need to work to resolve them.

Solutions may include:

• improved management
• the introduction of Quality Assurance procedures where appropriate
• more regular monitoring
• improved staff motivation
• clearer definition of objectives and staff roles

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