Priority Focus Areas: Framework Funding

Priority Focus Areas: Framework Funding

Outlined below are the various road safety initiatives, together with their commitments, which received Road Safety Framework funding to fulfil the outcomes identified under the Priority Focus Areas. 

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.

Commitments Covered

• 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.
• RSF 19: Continue to publicise and educate people about the risks associated with speeding.
• RSF 76: Provide support for motorcyclists, e.g. through advanced rider training schemes and raise awareness of bad or dangerous riding behaviour through safety awareness initiatives such as Operation Zenith.
• 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.

Initiative Summary 

Police Scotland and Screen Education Edinburgh worked together to produce a film highlighting the dangers and impact of illegal and irresponsible motorcycle use on communities in the city of Edinburgh. The film was developed and produced from start to finish by young people from the area most affected by the behaviour. Approximately ten young people took part, with the group given a brief, which was as simple as 'make a film to deter young people from riding motorcycles dangerously'. They were taken through the entire film-making process by a Film Tutor and developed the premise of the film, shot and edited it to make the completed product. 

The film will be used to communicate the dangers of speed and irresponsible riding to young people across the city, and beyond. It is envisaged that a film made by their peers (who live in the midst of the problem) will have more of an impact on young people than film made by adults looking at it from outside.

You can view the film at https://vimeo.com/359020419 

 Commitment 

• RSF 19: Continue to publicise and educate people about the risks associated with speeding.
• RSF 20: Continue to raise awareness of speed limits and their purpose, including those that apply to different types of vehicle on the different categories of roads.
• RSF 21: Continue to support the Safety Camera Programme.
• RSF 71: Encourage local authorities 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. 
• 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.
• RSF 95: Investigate and support ways to promote and facilitate initiatives relating to further accredited or certified training for older drivers including incentivisation to do this.

Initiative Summary

This multi-agency initiative which sees Police Scotland work alongside partners from Highland Road Safety Group, North East Scotland Road Casualty Reduction Strategy Group, Perth and Kinross Community Safety Partnership and Dundee and Angus Road Safety Groups as well as partners from local authorities, NHS Scotland, RoSPA, DVLA, IAM RoadSmart and Vision Express. Aimed to reduce the rising number of road traffic collision fatalities involving older drivers. This will involve participants attending Road Safety Workshops based at identified locations in the highland area of Scotland. The workshops will consist of an interactive programme incorporating the deployment of a desktop driving simulator, educational input and information stations where there will be opportunities to interact with specialist partners.

Participants are given an educational input delivered by police officers, focusing on mental skills for better driving, awareness, observations, vehicle positioning and highlighting how good anticipation is vital to improved and safer driving.

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.
• RSF 95: Investigate and support ways to promote and facilitate initiatives relating to further accredited or certified training for older drivers including incentivisation to do this.

Initiative Summary

Through validated research (primary and secondary), the project aims to establish innovative and effective means by which road safety professionals can communicate with drivers: drivers over 65 years to increase their awareness and understanding of their ability on the road, the medical conditions that can affect this, and their responsibilities to other road users; and the families of older drivers who have concerns about road safety.

Commitment 

• RSF 29: Support the implementation and encourage take up of the safe road user award.
• RSF 30: 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.
• RSF 60: Encourage young drivers to undergo post-test training, by engaging with the private sector including the insurance industry to explore incentivisation, and support national coordination of the use of outcome-based evaluation in post-test training.

Initiative Summary

ScORSA aims to encourage joint working and raise awareness in organisations of the need for action on work-related road safety, promote the exchange of information and best practice as well as ensuring policy and working practices are implemented to safeguard all road users.