Road Safety Framework: Annual Report 2011
Road Safety Framework: Annual Report 2011
Scotland
1. Scotland's Road Safety Framework was published in June 2009. The first national road safety plan in Scotland in over a decade, it sets out commitments over the next ten years for a Safer Scotland on our roads. The Framework is a collaborative document supported by partners in road safety across Scotland including local authorities, the fire and rescue service and the police.
2. The Framework is governed by a board of strategic partners who are responsible for collective decisions on strategic approaches, high level problems and issues, and public ownership of the Framework and its delivery. Members are expected to make key decisions on behalf of their respective organisations and to ensure that these are followed through.
3. The work of the Strategic Board is supported by a group of partners at operational level in road safety. The Operational Partnership Group (OPG) is made up of operational and policy experts in road safety and related topics such as education. It reports on good practice in road safety in Scotland and beyond, and advises on what works in road safety based on members' research, experience and knowledge.
4. The Board and Group meet throughout the year and they were joined by Keith Brown, Minister for Housing and Transport, in September 2011, to hear and discuss presentations on interventions for young driver safety including from Edmond King of the AA and Nigel Lacy from Young Marmalade. Minutes of all meetings can be found on the road safety section of the Transport Scotland website.
5. Other organisational and local plans support the national Road Safety Framework. In light of Police reform, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) has agreed to extend the lifespan of its current Road Policing Strategy until the new single force comes into being. The Strategy is aligned with Scotland's Road Safety Framework as is the Chief Fire Officer Association in Scotland (CFOAS) road safety document. Local authorities also have their own local road safety plans, many of which include Scotland's national targets. Although the Scottish targets are not set at a local or organisational level, each organisation involved with road safety in Scotland is asked to make a contribution to achieving the targets through national and local activities.
Links to UK, Europe and Beyond
6. The UK Government published a strategic framework in 2011. This sets out the UK Government's approach to continuing to reduce killed and seriously injured casualties on Britain's roads. The focus is on increasing the range of educational options for drivers who make genuine mistakes and can be helped to improve while, at the same time, improving enforcement against the most dangerous and deliberate offenders. There are no UK-wide targets.
7. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the period 2011-2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety, "with a goal to stabilise and then reduce the forecast level of road traffic fatalities around the world by increasing activities conducted at the national, regional and global levels". A Global Plan has been developed founded on five pillars of activity: building road safety management capacity; upgrading the safety of road infrastructure; further developing the safety of vehicles; enhancing the behaviour of road users; and improving emergency services. As indicated in the Ministerial foreword, Scotland very much supports the Decade of Action and marked the launch with a competition for JRSOs. The JRSO website 'All together now' theme is being developed not only to link up Junior Road Safety Officers in Scotland but also to link Scottish JRSOs with schoolchildren across the world to share their activities and experiences in road safety.
Achievement of the 2010 GB Road Safety Targets
8. The final figures for casualty reduction against GB Road Safety Targets set to the end of 2010 were published in October 2011. These targets were based on 1994-98 annual average casualty levels, and set for Great Britain by the Department for Transport, in association with the Scottish and Welsh devolved administrations and were as follows:
- a 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents
- a 50% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured
- a 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate, expressed as the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres.
9. In Scotland, casualties and fatalities have fallen significantly over the last ten years, based on the 1994-98 baseline, as can be seen in the figures below. It is also significant that, over the same period, the volume of traffic on Scotland's roads has increased by 15%, whilst the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents has fallen by 55%.
10. Figure 1 below shows that the number of people reported killed or seriously injured in 2010 was 2,172. This figure is 55% below the 1994-98 average of 4,838, representing a further 15 percentage point reduction on the GB targets.
Fig 1: Reported Killed or Seriously Injured Casualties in Scotland
11. Figure 2 below shows the number of reported child fatalities and serious injuries has fallen by 73% based on the 1994/98 average of 842. There were 227 recorded child fatalities and serious injuries in 2010, a further reduction of 23% on the GB targets.
Fig 2: Report Child Casualties Killed or Seriously Injured
12. Figure 3 shows the slight casualty rate - expressed as the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres - was 25.7 in 2010, 45% below the 1994-98 baseline average (of 46.4). This represents a further 35 percentage point reduction on the GB targets.
Fig 3: Slight Casualty Rate per 100 million vehicle kilometres
13. Figure 4 shows annual reductions in the level of road casualties who are killed or seriously injured (KSIs)) compared to traffic levels. Traffic levels have been increasing over the period of the GB targets, whilst numbers of killed and seriously injured have been falling.
Fig 4: Change in numbers killed or seriously injured compared to traffic levels over the period of the GB targets
2011 Progress Report
14. The end of 2011 showed excellent progress with the Road Safety Framework commitments. Work has commenced on all 51 short-term commitments, with work completed on all of those which are not classified as 'continuous' (those activities which need ongoing support and targeting rather than being one-off tasks). Work has also commenced on some of the medium-term initiatives due for completion by 31 December 2014. A snapshot of activities undertaken in 2011 across partner organisations to meet commitments is shown below in table 1.
| Category | Commitment | S/M/L Term | Progress in 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working Together | Work with local authorities and police forces in order to identify their needs in relation to expanding the publication Road Casualties Scotland to include casualty analysis by home post code | S | The format and content of the SG publication Reported Road Casualties Scotland will be updated to align more closely with the Road Safety Framework for the 2012 publication. In addition, RSF funding has purchased a one-year Scottish public sector wide licence for MAST from January 2012. This online tool allows interrogation of statistics by home post code. |
| Children and Young People | Undertake an audit of our road safety education resources to ensure they address the specific issues which Scotland's child road casualty record presents and that they keep pace with educational developments and method | S | The Curriculum for Excellence booklet was made current for 2011-2012 and distributed by Education Scotland to every school and road safety unit. In September Road Safety Education took a stand at the Scottish Learning Festival to promote current resources and learning approaches. The new early years approach 'Go Safe with Ziggy' which was launched in October 2010 now has both Gaelic and Scots websites which were launched in 2011. The Junior Road Safety Officer Website has been updated and linked to the UN Decade of Action. www.Streetsense2.com has been updated with further new on-line activities at each level. The Traffic Trail activity is now live and posters were designed to be sent out to every Primary School. www.crashmagnets.com has been redesigned following a review carried out in 2010. It was launched in December 2011 with promotional booklets and education media coverage. The latest edition of Crash Magnets was distributed to all secondary schools via Road Safety Units early in 2011. The resource was reprinted later in the year. Through the Grant programme RoSPA Scotland has provided a week of In Car Safety Training for Road Safety Officers to help equip them with the skills and up to date knowledge to conduct In Car Safety checks. |
| Children and Young People | Investigate, report and implement ways to help ensure schoolchildren's safety when getting on and off school buses. | S/M/L | "One Second One Life": The Bus Stop! Campaign has been developed by the North East School Transport Safety Group, comprising Aberdeenshire Council, Aberdeen City Council, The Moray Council and Road Safety Grampian and has been supported by Talisman Energy (UK) and Stagecoach. See website: www.1second1life.co.uk |
| Drivers Aged 17-25 | Continue to look for innovative ways to target young drivers with appropriate messages about safe driving to increase their awareness and understanding of their vulnerability and the dangers they face due to inexperience. | S/M/L | www.getintogear.info/ was launched in October 2011 at the Road Safety Scotland seminar. . The first group of early achievers of the Get into Gear SQA award attended the Induction day and the promotional material was released for distribution. Promotion of the Get into Gear approach to learning has been flagged up at the RSF Strategic Board. Young Drivers was the theme chosen for the RSS Annual Seminar in October 2011, and a variety of presentations looked at some of the key issues facing this vulnerable group. The presentations are available on the RSS website |
| Drivers aged 17-25 | Conduct a public debate on young driver issues including graduated licences and additional training. | S | Report on a national debate on Safety of young drivers aged 17 to 25 published in March 2011 (link). 17 recommendations from the report are being addressed by Transport Scotland and road safety partners. The report highlighted a lack of evidence in what works in young driver interventions, not just in Scotland but world wide. Many of the recommendations, therefore, call for further evaluation and pilots for various initiatives such as post test-training and graduated licensing schemes. |
| Impairment - Drink Drive | Continue to press the UK Government for a reduction in the drink drive limit and for powers to carry out breath testing anytime, anywhere. | S/M/L | The UK Government has stated that it will not reduce the drink drive limit across the UK. However, powers within the Scotland Bill which is currently timetabled for Royal Assent in April 2012, will give Scottish Ministers the opportunity to reduce the drink driving level in Scotland. The Scottish Government strongly supports a reduction in the drink driving limit and for the police to be given more powers to conduct roadside breath testing anytime anywhere (as recommended by the North Review of Drink Driving 2009). The Scottish Government has asked for the Scotland Bill to include more extensive devolution of powers over drink-driving, including legislative flexibility to legislation that would enable the police to conduct breath tests any time anywhere, and prescribe differential drink driving limits, power to set penalties, but the UK Government has, so far refused to include these powers in the Scotland Bill. Any proposed legislative changes on drink driving would be subject to a public consultation. |
| Impairment - Drink Driver | Continue to work in partnership with ACPOS and other partners, including the private sector to provide publicity in support of enforcement initiatives by Scottish police forces. | S/M/L | The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) runs two national drink drive campaigns every year (one summer, one festive) to support its year round activity in this critical area. Working in partnership with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish Courts Service, Road Safety Scotland and the Scottish Government, the 2009 festive drink drive campaign incorporated a new initiative of seizing and forfeiting the cars of recidivist drink drivers (arrested more than once in the past five years). The campaign was supported by a fully integrated media strategy developed through Road Safety Scotland. Following the festive campaign, the initiative was adopted as policy by ACPOS in January 2010 and has been further extended to include drug drivers in summer 2010. During the 2011-12 festive campaign, partners agreed to trial a further extension and, during the four week period, the scheme was applied to first-time offenders caught three times the limit or more, and those who refused to provide a specimen for analysis. Alternative cross-cutting approaches are also being considered, including rehabilitation by means of education or treatment. The 2011-12 enforcement campaign was supported by a full social marketing campaign including television, radio and online advertising, marketing activity within pubs and bars, and partnerships with companies throughout Scotland. |
| Seatbelts | Continue to educate and encourage drivers to ensure that children are properly restrained in cars and vans. | C | Road Safety Scotland again had a stand at the Scottish Baby and toddler show in late April 2011 and promoted items to new parents such as the Good Egg Guide in partnership with Arnold Clark. Almost 25,000 guides were distributed in 2011. The main Good Egg Campaign to ensure use and proper fitting of child car seats was launched in June with two radio adverts. Local road safety officers organised child car seat clinics across Scotland from June to October, during which over 1800 seats were checked. Of these. 75% were fitted correctly or required minor adjustments but, worryingly, 138 (8%) were incompatible with the child or the car in which they were being used. The Good Egg Campaign now also has a presence on Facebook and Twitter. The seatbelt convincers provided by the Scottish Government to local partners continue to be used to deliver a powerful message to attendees at various shows and events across the country. |
| Speed | Publish a delivery Plan on Climate change that will require significant changes in driving practice | S | The Scottish Government's climate change Report on Policies and Proposals (RPP) published on 14 March 2011 (link) contains a number of proposals aimed at reducing transport emissions through reducing the need to travel, widening transport choices and driving more efficiently including a proposal on eco driving. Eco driving training teaches driving techniques including appropriate driving speeds for the road/weather conditions that lead to average fuel savings of 5-10%. |
| Pedal Cyclists | Continue to monitor and develop Scottish Cycle Training Scheme (SCTS) resources for dissemination to Road Safety Units and others responsible for co-ordinating the SCTS programme. | S/M/L | Bikeability Scotland was launched on 11 March 2011 incorporating cycle training levels 1-3. Bikeability Scotland is managed by Cycling Scotland and monitored through the Bikeability Scotland Delivery Group. |
| People who Drive for Work | Encourage and support the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) ( Scotland) with the formation of the Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance (ScORSA) in order to raise employers' awareness of the need to have a policy on the Management of Occupational Road Risk (MORR). | S/M/L | ScORSA continues to promote the adoption of procedures for employees driving at work among businesses and organisation across Scotland through the ScORSA website. The ScORSA Toolkit was launched in May 2011 to coincide with the launch day of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. In association with the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives and other partners, events and seminars took place across Scotland to promote the Toolkit and raise awareness of the issues relating to MORR. They provided businesses with valuable links to local support from Safety Groups, Road Safety Officers, Safety camera partnerships and others. Membership of the ScORSA community continues to grow and web visits have increase. A bi-monthly newsletter is also distributed and posted on the website along with other relevant information to support MORR in Scotland. Through the Grant programme RoSPA Scotland has provided 2 x one day training on the use of RoSPA's Young Driver at Work resource to help businesses and road safety practitioners conduct workshops with young drivers in the workplace. These took place in Glasgow and in Edinburgh. |
| Motorcyclists | Encourage training and support for motorcyclists, e.g. through Bikesafe and other advanced rider training schemes. | M | Grampian Police ran 12 Bikesafe courses for 130 motorcyclists, in partnership with local IAM riders. In partnership with the three local Councils, Bear Scotland and NESCAMP, they ran 'Operation Zenith', which delivered direct educational inputs to local motorcyclists. This resulted in a reduction in all classes of injuries to motorcyclists. Road Safety Scotland funded the motorbike safety stand at the Scottish Bike Show in March and continues to produce promotional items, such as bandanas, keyrings and earplugs to promote the 'Around the Corner', 'Don't Risk It' and 'Bikesafe' websites. |
| Drivers from Abroad | Continue to produce the tourist information leaflet and 'keep left' sticker. We will consult with Visit Scotland to ensure it is promoted widely in advance of the tourist season each year | S/M/L | A total of 35,000 copies of the leaflet were produced and distributed across Scotland via local road safety partners and Visit Scotland offices. |
| Rural Roads | Continue to publicise the risks associated with driving and riding on rural roads and warn all road users of potential dangers | S/M/L | The "Unpredictable" series of adverts featured in cinemas for six weeks during January and February 2011, supported by radio and online activity Country Roads Online |
Forward Look 2012
Our Targets - A Step Towards Our Vision
15. As set out in this report, Scotland has not only achieved GB road casualty reduction targets set to 2010, but has exceeded these by a significant margin. However, our ultimate long-term vision is for no road fatalities in Scotland and much reduced serious injuries. We will continue to strive to achieve these goals with the help of our partners in local authorities, the emergency services, safety and motoring organisations and all road users as set out in Scotland's road Safety Framework to 2020.
16. We firmly believe in the value of having targets to enable a clear focus for the effort and resources of all partners, this decision has been strongly supported by leading road safety experts, both in Scotland and further afield. Our casualty reduction targets for Scotland cover the period from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2020, as set out in the table below.
| Target | 2004/2008 average | 2015 milestones | 2020 target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fatalities | 292 | 204 (30% reduction) | 175 (40% reduction) |
| Serious casualties | 2,604 | 1,484 (43% reduction) | 1,172 (55% reduction) |
| Child fatalities | 15 | 10 (35% reduction) | 8 (50% reduction) |
| Serious child casualties | 325 | 163 (50% reduction) | 114 (65% reduction) |
17. In addition, we will continue the previous 10% reduction target in the slight casualty rate to 2020.
Economic Challenge
18. As stated in Scotland's Road Safety Framework to 2020, we will be working with our road safety partners to help us achieve these targets through their own local and organisational contributions. Once again this work will take place against a backdrop of challenging economic conditions as a result of cuts to the Scottish Government budget imposed by the UK Government. Therefore, prioritisation of our investment, greater efficiency in the way we deliver, the sharing of best practice and harnessing the energy and innovation of our partners will all be vital. This will continue to be a focus for us all in 2012.