Road Safety Framework: Annual Report 2014
Overview
Scotland's Road Safety Framework (the "Framework") was published on 15 June 2009. This was Scotland's first national road safety plan and took a distinctive approach in setting commitments over ten years for safer roads in Scotland. The Framework sets road safety targets for casualty reduction which will deliver the outcome of safer road travel in Scotland for everyone: 40% reduction in fatalities; 55% reduction in serious injuries; 50% reduction in fatal child casualties; and 65% reduction in children seriously injured based on a 2004-2008 average.
Road Safety is everyone's responsibility including Central Government and a raft of delivery partners. Therefore, the Framework is a collaborative approach supported by partners in road safety across Scotland including local authorities, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Police Scotland and other organisations. The Framework is a forward-looking document with commitments to further decrease road casualties towards realising the vision of "A steady reduction in the numbers of those killed and seriously injured, with the ultimate vision of a future where no-one is killed on Scotland's roads, and the injury rate is much reduced".
Leadership and Governance
The Framework is governed by a Strategic Partnership Board (SPB) which is responsible for collective decisions on strategic approaches, identifying and resolving high-level problems and issues, and public ownership of the Framework and its delivery. Members are not only expected to make key decisions on behalf of their respective organisations but also to ensure that these are followed through.
The work of the SPB is supported by the Operational Partnership Group (OPG) which is made up of operational and policy experts in road safety and the three road safety pillars of education, engineering and enforcement. It reports on good practice in Scotland and beyond, and advises on what works in road safety based on members' research, experience and knowledge.
The Board met in February and November 2014, and considered matters including opportunities for Framework project-funding, the Scottish Safety Camera Programme Review, school bus safety, 20mph guidance and limits for local authorities, a Scottish Road Safety week, speed awareness courses, road casualty figures and the A9 average speed camera initiative. The minutes of all meetings can be found on the road safety section of the Transport Scotland website.
Research, Communication and Sharing Good Practice
To facilitate and support a range of activity to aid the delivery of the Framework, a Project Fund was made available in 2014 to fund small-scale projects that contribute to commitments in the Framework. In previous years, this was known as the "Innovation Fund", but this had limited success in attracting successful funding applications.
The 2014 Project Fund application process was reviewed and simplified to encourage more partners to consider applying and to facilitate a broader range of projects. Funding was awarded to a range of small-scale projects and resources in 2014/15 that will aim to deliver outcomes which contribute to Framework themes including Older Drivers, Pedal Cyclists, Speed, People Who Drive For Work, Children & Young People, Pre-Drivers and Drivers Aged 17-25. In line with our commitment to intelligence-led road safety targeting, there is an emphasis on and requirement for projects to evaluate and report on their impact.
Evaluation and Evidence
Continuing the theme of evaluation, Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government's Community Safety Unit have jointly put in place an Evaluation Framework contract, which allows us to offer evaluation training support for external partners. This work also seeks to facilitate skills transfer, so that those who receive this training and support are encouraged to pass these evaluation skills on to others. We want to encourage our partners to evaluate the work that they do.
Independent evaluation support has continued to be developed through the Framework contract this year to evaluate an enhanced school bus signage pilot in Glasgow and to assess the possible impact of the Safe Drive Stay Alive young driver intervention activity that is delivered across Scotland.
Intelligence
We continued to fund the MAST licence in 2014/15 and make this available free of charge to road safety and community safety practitioners across Scotland. MAST is an online reporting tool which provides nationwide access to analysed STATS19 data combined with other useful information into one easily accessible and usable system.
In partnership with Road Safety Analysis Ltd, the Scottish Community Safety Network hosted a Scottish Partnership Analysts forum on MAST to provide a practical demonstration drawn from the data needs of the delegates. It is free to register to use MAST and many practitioners across Scotland are continuing to use this tool to support delivery of intelligence-based road safety activity.
2013 saw the lowest number of casualties on Scotland's roads since annual records began in 1950; 11,498 people injured in 2013 representing 10% fewer than in 2012
Useful links:
www.gov.scot/Publications/2009/10/01090036/0
www.transportscotland.gov.uk/road/road-safety/strategic-partnership-board-members
www.transportscotland.gov.uk/road/safety/road-safety-objectives