Priority Focus Areas: Framework Funding

Outlined below are the various activities/projects, together with their
commitment, which received grants from the Framework fund to fulfil the seven outcomes identified for the PFA. Some activities cover more than one outcome, demonstrating how road safety initiatives can be interconnected, with improvements in one area potentially leading to improvements
in another.

Speed

Commitment RSF 71 – Encourage LAs to implement any changes indicated by their review of speed limits and continue to monitor networks in order to identify changes where these may support casualty reduction.

Police Scotland

PS’s Community Speed Watch (CSW) programme is designed to engage and empower local residents to work in partnership with the police and Glasgow Council to contribute towards local and city-wide casualty reduction targets. The project will analyse the data gathered as part of the CSW project and contribute towards the mid to long term framework commitment to investigate the links between road safety and disadvantaged children, and those in ethnic minority groups. The project focuses on three identified areas of deprivation with a high percentage Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) population, and compares statistical information and other travel data against three more affluent areas with a low percentage BME population. The study includes the analysis of carefully designed questionnaires aimed at various types of road users including children, parents, older residents, community groups, businesses, drivers and cyclists. The project aims to:

Develop and deliver a Community Speed Watch programme in three identified disadvantaged areas to raise awareness of road safety and the issue of speeding and inappropriate speed within communities.
Gather valuable information and data to support the mid to long term Framework commitment to “investigate the links between road safety and disadvantaged children, and those in ethnic minority groups”.
Create a website to record all data and intelligence – live to 2020 – providing an even greater picture (linked to accident data) of road safety issues; where possible, in collaboration with Glasgow’s centre for Population and Health.

Motorcyclists

Commitment RSF 76 – Provide support for motorcyclists; for example, through advanced rider training schemes and raise awareness of bad or dangerous riding behaviour, through safety awareness initiatives such as Operation Zenith.

Argyll and Bute Council

Argyll and Bute Council, in partnership with North Ayrshire Council and INDMedia, continued the Scottish Biker Magazine (SBM) Project, which broadened its scope from the west to cover all of Scotland. The project engaged with new dealerships, bike related businesses, training providers and other road safety professionals with an interest in safer motorcycling. SBM established a well-received suite of resources that motorcyclists would like to see continued, and the team established good relationships with the trade. SBM has been invited to several 2018 events; for example, the Scottish Bike Show, Green Welly Road Show, Track nights, Bike Fyne, Perth Bike Night, and several dealership demonstration days. A detailed profile of motorcyclists and motorcycling in Scotland was produced to help inform further work to improve safety, with the final evaluation due in 2018.

Age

Pre-drivers

Commitment RSF 79 – Seek to influence young people’s attitudes to road safety and future driving behaviour before they get behind the wheel and investigate the usage and delivery by schools of pre-driver educational intervention and event training resources such as and including “Get into Gear” in supporting their effectiveness.

Police Scotland

PS has worked collaboratively with Scottish Borders Council, the SFRS, and IAM RoadSmart on the Drivewise project. Drivewise delivers three sub-projects aimed at improving knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours by delivering awareness raising and training opportunities for those drivers most at risk of injury related accidents. Initiated in 2016, the project was extended in 2017 and contributes to all three age-related overarching outcomes. The projects aim to reduce the number of children, young drivers and older drivers killed or seriously injured, and contributes directly to Scottish Borders Council’s Safer Communities Acton Plan. Each project includes a specific range of learning and training programmes suited to their respective age group. This will enable drivers to develop their knowledge and skills, and identify and reduce risk taking behaviours.

Safety Cameras Scotland

Safety Cameras Scotland received funding to run a classroom-based education package that utilises virtual reality to deliver a road safety message to young and pre-drivers. The project aims to influence participants to make positive behavioural changes when in a vehicle – or as a pedestrian or cyclist – and to develop and strengthen professional practice in implementing young or pre-driver intervention programmes.

Drivers aged 17 to 25

Commitment RSF 61 – Encourage initiatives which lead to qualifications, safer driving attitudes and behaviours, and explore flexible delivery and certification approaches to increase uptake.

RoSPA Scotland

RoSPA Scotland continued to oversee and support a Steering Group tasked with managing and delivering Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance (ScORSA) activity. ScORSA’s objective is to raise awareness in managing occupational road risk, and promotes occupational road safety within Scotland by highlighting the positive benefits of risk management. Activity covers a wide variety of areas, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable road user groups and the use of technology to make driving for work safer for all. The redeveloped ScORSA website and social media feeds provided visitors with research information and practical options to better inform policy decisions within organisations in general. For members, a forum and series of workshop events provided “hands on” peer learning opportunities. Funding enabled RoSPA Scotland to continue delivering the Scottish Qualifications Authority approved (level 7) qualification for road safety practitioners in Scotland. The qualification’s relevance in the current delivery of road safety was also evaluated.

Commitment RSF 09 – Continue to look for innovative ways to target younger drivers with appropriate messages, including effective social media platforms, about safe driving to increase their awareness and understanding of their vulnerability and the dangers they face due to age and inexperience.

See Drivewise pre-driver activity.

Older drivers

Commitment RSF 83 – Support initiatives to raise awareness amongst older drivers and their families, of their vulnerability and ways in which they can address this in order to make informed choices about safe driving.

See Drivewise pre-driver activity.

Vulnerable road users

Cyclists

Commitment RSF 27 – Ensure that all road users receive appropriate education and training to encourage safer cycling in the road environment, including journeys to and from school and in residential areas.

Cycling Scotland

CS provided early intervention by incentivising young and learner drivers to undertake vulnerable road-user awareness training, including Practical Cycle Awareness Training. Practical Cycle Awareness Training involves a half-day course specifically designed for candidates with a provisional licence preparing for their driving test. The course includes practical cycling sessions and theory delivered by expert instructors. Course material was developed from the successful Certificate of Professional Competence training for drivers of lorries and buses. By completing this course it is hoped that candidates would develop hazard perception skills and develop safer driving practice around vulnerable road users, including people riding bicycles. The final evaluation will take place in 2018.

Pedestrians

Commitment RSF 74 – Encourage LAs to introduce 20mph zones or limits in residential areas and areas of towns or cities with a high volume of pedestrians and cyclists as set out in the 2015 Good Practice Guide on 20mph Speed Restrictions.

Living Streets

LS continued its 20mph community engagement project. Over the summer, progress was made in all communities, with a focus on preparing and agreeing community engagement activities to commence in the autumn. These activities were delivered from September through to the end of November. LS is now clear what communities want, and are confident LA partners have a good understanding of the project. An external evaluator was appointed after a short tender exercise, whose key focus involved assessing the level of progress and achievements in each community within the project timescale. The evaluation also considered the effectiveness of the techniques used in the project, both during the delivery phase and the prospects for future impacts. The focus until the end of November was on delivering a range of activities to consider numerous communities’ views on their streets, the impact of speed and any desired remedial actions. The focus then shifted to sustainability of post project activity, development of the toolkit, evaluation and learning, and dissemination. The final evaluation is due in 2018.