The Scottish Government

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THEME 2 HOW SHOULD WE ADDRESS THESE PRIORITIES?

A lot of work has been, and is being, done by a range of agencies to address the issues mentioned in Theme 1 and others. These activities include education and publicity initiatives which are targeted at certain groups with the aim of raising awareness of particular issues: the enforcement of road traffic law, such as speeding and drink-driving; engineering schemes designed to slow traffic, improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists; and improvements to roads and vehicles.

Education

Providing information about safe road use is important in raising awareness of accident risk and in influencing decisions about the acceptance or rejection of risk.

The police have an important role, not only in the enforcement of road traffic law, but in providing information to road users about the law's requirements and how enforcement is carried out.

The European Road Assessment Programme (Euro RAP) maps details of the average risk to vehicle users (per billion vehicle kilometres) of being involved in a fatal or serious injury crash on the major inter-urban road network in Scotland and other European countries The risk on poor single carriageways is typically ten times that on a motorway. Being able to demonstrate to the public how an individual's risk changes as s/he moves from one road section to another is a first step in making road-users more risk-aware and, therefore, safer ( www.eurorap.org for details).

Every road user should accept responsibility for their own, and where appropriate, others' safety and behave accordingly. Children learn by example, and research has shown that children's attitudes and road user behaviour are fixed long before they are old enough to drive. For this reason, parents must set a good example to their children by their own driving behaviour. They could also help to ensure their children's safety after the driving test, by encouraging their participation in schemes designed to increase their driving experience and skills, such as Pass Plus or an advanced driving course.

Engineering

Technology has a vital role to play in delivering road safety. Advances in vehicle design offer improved safety features, while safety can also be built into the road infrastructure. The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) crash tests new car models and publishes independent, realistic and accurate information about their safety performance. Euro NCAP can influence consumer choice of vehicle, by encouraging the purchase of vehicles that score well and those that are equipped with the latest technology such as Electronic Stability Control ( www.euroncap.com).

Engineering infrastructure projects lie at the heart of road network safety upgrading. Employing modern standards, they provide an environment that minimises the risk from the three major collision types; head-on, run-off and junction accidents. A good example of engineering network safety upgrades is the addition of seven new interchanges on the A90 between Perth and Forfar where surface level junctions with poor accident histories have been replaced with grade-separated (flyover) junctions to allow safer movements to, from and across the dual-carriageway.

Enforcement

There is a number of drivers whose behaviour behind the wheel of a vehicle presents a serious risk to the safety of other road users and, often, such behaviour can only be addressed by police action to detect and prosecute those drivers who ignore laws put in place to protect the public. While enforcement is an important aspect of the road safety effort, the resources available to carry it out are limited and, in order to gain the most benefit for the community, it is important to direct the available resources to areas where the greatest benefit can be gained. To achieve this, it is necessary to develop systems that will help to identify the nature of the breaches in traffic legislation and the effect they have on road safety which, in turn, allows an intelligence-led enforcement strategy to be developed and implemented.

One successful example of this methodology is the use of cameras to enforce speed limits and red light running. Under the rules of the Safety Camera Programme, cameras can only be deployed at locations where there is a known accident history and there is also evidence of an associated speed or red light running problem. This approach fulfils the requirement to target enforcement on a needs basis and, at the same time, helps to free up police resources to deal with other serious road safety issues such as careless driving and driving under the influence of drink or drugs.

Examples

Examples of activity by the Scottish Government, its agencies and other organisations are provided below.

• To address concerns about young driver safety, a recent pilot scheme was aimed at increasing the number of young drivers in the Grampian area taking the Pass Plus training course. Newly qualified drivers aged between 17 and 25 years, resident in Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray Council areas, were offered £75 towards the cost of the course. This was in addition to financial incentives offered by the local authorities in the area. The initiative increased uptake of Pass Plus among the target group, and comments on its value were positive.
• The Children's Traffic Club in Scotland offers road safety training to all 3-year-old children in Scotland. Scottish Government funding ensures that membership of the Club is free. Early training provides a good foundation on which later road safety education initiatives can build.
• Road Safety Scotland ( RSS) is implementing a programme for road safety education which aims to ensure that all children are taught a core of road safety at all stages of their formal education, including pre-school and special educational needs. Resources have been developed for use in schools, linking to national education guidelines; for play groups; for after-school clubs; and for youth groups, as well as for use in faculties of education and for early years' workers and childminders.
• A number of different approaches are used by RSS, including websites such as www.crashmagnets.com, peer education such as the Junior Road Safety Officer Scheme, theatre in education, adult literacy, and educational exhibitions. A series of multi-lingual leaflets, aimed at migrant workers, has been produced, providing advice on the requirements for driving in Scotland.
• Road safety publicity messages are guided by RSS's driver behaviour strategy, which aims to modify unsafe driver behaviours to produce safe, desirable driver behaviours. The strategic objectives of the strategy address inappropriate and excessive speed, drink and drug-driving, young driver safety and seatbelt use. RSS works closely with ACPOS to support the summer and festive safety campaigns and on seatbelt compliance activity. RSS is also a key partner in the 'Good Egg' In-car Safety Campaign, which aims to ensure that all children are carried safely in vehicles.
• Transport Scotland monitors the trunk road network annually. Accident locations are investigated and recommended remedial measures are prioritised for action. Up to £8 million is invested annually on accident remedial measures and passive safety. A recent initiative implemented across the trunk road network involved the replacement of larger, traditional signposts by 'crash-friendly' signposts to achieve a less hazardous roadside for errant motorists. Transport Scotland has recently published an action plan for safety on the trunk road network.
• A number of local authorities in Scotland subsidise the cost to young drivers of the Pass Plus training scheme. A scheme in Fife, funded and operated for several years by local Community Safety partners, has been very successful in attracting young drivers.
• The Fire and Rescue Service has developed a 'Safe Drive Stay Alive' programme with theatre events for senior school pupils being run annually in a number of areas. These involve a thought-provoking look at the consequences of crashes on people's lives and involve participation by emergency service personnel and crash victims themselves.
• Fife Constabulary is actively engaged in a priority policing initiative, 'Operation Take Control', aimed at targeting young drivers in the 17-25 age group.
• A Travel Plan is a package of measures that is tailored to the needs of individual businesses. Its overall aim is to promote safer and sustainable travel choices by staff and visitors and reduce reliance on the car. As well as environmental benefits, a Travel Plan delivers a number of other benefits, including improved accessibility, by reducing congestion around the location of a particular business and increasing travel choices, which can help improve local road safety.

Reserved issues

Many road safety issues are outwith the remit of the Scottish Government and reserved to the UK Government and/or the European Union. These matters include driver and vehicle licensing, driver training and testing, vehicle standards and road traffic offences and penalties. The UK Government is conducting a fundamental review of the training and testing regime, and plans to consult on possible changes to the current arrangements. Consultations are also planned on measures to tackle drink-driving, including making enforcement easier for the police, and a system of graduated penalties for speeding offences. The UK Government works towards improving vehicle safety, with the aim of minimising the effects of accidents or, if possible, preventing them altogether.

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