Road Safety Framework and Evaluation Funding
Road Safety Framework and Evaluation Funding
Through Scotland's Road Safety Framework and Evaluation fund, the below initiatives were delivered over 2020. All activity is evidence-based and, in the case of such activity being funded by the framework, external evaluation is conducted to determine the extent of its impact on road safety.
Evaluation of Eddleston A703 Traffic
Location/Organisation
Scottish Borders Local Authority/Edinburgh Napier University
Priority Focus Area
Speed
Commitment
- 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
Initiative Summary
Scottish Borders Council is currently working with the village of Eddleston on the A703 on reducing the speed of vehicles through the village. Over the years the community has raised concerns over inappropriate speed and driver behaviour of some travelling through the village and the same local community council has agreed to take part in a project/study to trial and evaluate a number of traffic calming interventions to be introduced incrementally over a two-year period.
The overall aim of this project is to gauge what traffic calming features actually work to reduce speeds for a rural community with a 30 mph speed limit, bounded north and south by roads with national speed limits.
Evaluation of Motorcycle Safety in North East Scotland
Location/Organisation
Aberdeenshire Council/Robert Gordon University
Priority Focus Area
Speed
Commitment
- 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 77: Through RSS, support targeted publicity campaigns aimed at motorcyclists.
- RSF 92: Consider the needs and vulnerabilities of motorcyclists in developing motorcycle-friendly roads and roadsides where this may support casualty reduction, while ensuring that motorcycle safety is fully considered when other traffic calming schemes are introduced.
Initiative Summary
The initiatives to be evaluated are those motorcycle-specific road safety initiatives operated by Police Scotland, the former Grampian Police and Aberdeenshire Council across North East Scotland. Given that various initiatives have been undertaken to address this issue, a longer-term period of almost twenty years is potentially going to be being reviewed. While this may appear a considerable timescale, various records remain which provide valuable background information.
Most of these initiatives will have been subject of individual evaluation; however, this broader study seeks to identify key themes and best practice across the various methods used.
The various approaches taken by these initiatives have sought to: (a) positively influence the road-using behaviour of motorcyclists; (b) raise awareness of their road-based vulnerabilities; (c) highlight specific road-based motorcycle risks; (d) increasing skill levels, with the ultimate goal of changing behaviours and leading to reductions in both the number of motorcycle-involved road traffic collisions and related fatal and serious injuries.
The following targeted initiatives have included elements such as group-based discussions, on-road and classroom-based training, motorcycle engagement events, media campaigns, self-evaluation and reflection of riding skills and bespoke engineering interventions, and are:
- Motorcycle specific road signage on key north east routes used by motorcycles (2001 - 2019)
- Bikesafe (2001 - 2010)
- Operation Zenith (2009 - 2013)
- Live Fast Die Old (2015 - 2019): general observance of and reaction to the national initiative, as perceived by local motorcyclists
- Rider Refinement North (2018 - 2019)
Questionnaire
Describe how the Road Safety Framework fund has benefited your project?
Without the funding made available by the Road Safety Framework, it would not have been possible to complete our project. Academic research relies on funders to pay for staff time and without the money from Transport Scotland, it simply would not have been possible to undertake this work.
Is the project still ongoing after receiving the framework funding?
We had to delay the work due to Covid-19. We anticipate that successful completion of the work will open up broader opportunities within local authorities and other relevant stakeholders in relation to discussing findings of the work and that this will be a significant legacy of the project.
Have you considered rolling out this project in different locations/local authorities?
We will seek opportunities to disseminate the findings of the research to other local authorities. We have already received interest from a local authority in England and from parties in New Zealand interested in the outcomes of the project. We also anticipate that using the forum the Road Safety North East Scotland Lead Officers' Group will allow for dissemination of findings across a variety of organisations.
Have you had any feedback from participants that you wish to share or is there any other information you would like to highlight?
There has been general feedback from the biking community that the research is of value and that a specific focus on motorcyclists and their needs is welcome.
Was there any issues or challenges that you faced which would be helpful to others running similar interventions?
Covid-19 has been the main challenge to our project and the ability adapt research plans has been important. Having a backup plan for data collection has been an important tool to allow our research to remain on track.
Evaluation of Bikeability Scotland and Broader Road Safety Perceptions of 10+ age
Location/Organisation
Cycling Scotland/Three identified locations of urban, remote rural and suburban.
Priority Focus Area
Age/Vulnerable Road Users
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.
- 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.
Initiative Summary
Bikeability Scotland is the national cycle training programme for school children. Since the brand was introduced in 2011, more than 300,000 school children have participated.
The aim of Bikeability Scotland is to support the next generation of confident and responsible road users. Bikeability Scotland is a recognised indicator supporting commitment number 28 in the framework. Bikeability Scotland also contributes to Scotland's Active Travel Framework, supporting efforts to promote modal shift, and has demonstrable links to Active Nation outcomes.
The immediate objectives of on-road Bikeability Scotland are to support pupils to develop the knowledge and skills to:
- Prepare rider and cycle for a journey
- Cycle safely and responsibly
- Share the road with others
- Manage risk when cycling
On-road training begins at 10/11; prior to this it accepted that children struggle to judge speed and distance effectively. However, many of the skills required to cycle safely and anticipate danger can be developed earlier in environments free of motor-traffic.
Evaluation of New Driver Early Intervention Scheme
Location/Organisation
Police Scotland/Across Scotland
Priority Focus Area
Speed/Age
Commitment
- RSF 19: Continue to publicise and educate people about the risks associated with speeding.
- 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 61: Encourage initiatives which lead to qualifications and safer driving attitudes and behaviours and explore flexible delivery and certification approaches to increase uptake.
Initiative Summary
The New Driver Early Intervention Scheme was launched in partnership with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Motor Schools Association of Great Britain by Inspector Lorraine Napier and Sergeant Craig Beaver.
Research conducted confirmed that 70% of new drivers were aged 17-25 years and despite only representing 10% of all UK licence holders, this age group was over-represented in road collisions, and accounted for 23% of all fatal road collisions. In addition to this, current educational tools were examined which highlighted that little road safety education was carried out in secondary schools, if indeed, at all, beyond the age of 16; especially for those who chose to leave school at an early age. It was recognised that a road safety education gap existed at a crucial time in a new driver's driving journey.
The resource developed by PI Napier/PS Beaver is a structured interactive presentation, delivered in three clear sections, primarily aimed at 17-25 year olds, which addresses this gap. This resource provides a solid reminder of the individual responsibilities that a driver has, both for themselves and for other road users by using GO PRO footage recorded by a driver concerned in a convoy of five vehicles travelling to a car cruise event. This ultimately resulted in one of the convoy vehicles becoming involved in a fatal road traffic collision. The footage used captures the manner of driving on the way to this event and also the aftermath of the fatal road collision, however the decision was made at an early stage to exclude sensitive and graphic images.
Questionnaire
Describe how the Road Safety Framework fund has benefited your project?
The Road Safety Framework fund has benefited Police Scotland's New Driver Early Intervention Scheme (NDEIS) positively. During the conception and subsequent roll-out nationally, several key stakeholders and partners raised the important aspect and necessity of an evaluation being carried out. The RSF fund has now allowed us to work with an external company to explore the benefits of the NDEIS and also areas in which it can be improved.
It is anticipated that the outcome of the evaluation will enable us to ensure the future sustainability of the scheme, with the flexibility to alter its delivery based on feedback, and improve its delivery method.
Is the project still ongoing after receiving the framework funding?
The NDEIS initially stalled due to the pandemic; however, through close partnership working, determination and demand from stakeholders, the scheme is now firmly back up and running.
Face-to-face presentations no longer take place due to health and safety reasons; therefore the delivery method has evolved to an online digital platform allowing us to effectively delivery the initiative, with the added benefit that we can deliver to a greater number of participants.
Due to the above delays, the evaluation was concluded in September 2021.
Have you considered rolling out this project in different locations/local authorities?
The NDEIS has been rolled out nationally throughout Police Scotland's divisions. Partners such as the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have adopted the scheme and deliver in in conjunction with us to internal and external groups. Several local authorities have adopted the scheme nationally.
With restrictions easing, demand for face-to-face presentations has increased. This is being looked at closely with appropriate risk assessments being conducted.
At present there are a number of inputs planned. Colleagues from Police Scotland's Dumfries and Galloway Division are planning to deliver several inputs throughout June in conjunction with their local road safety partnership forum.
Following consultation with the evaluation team, the NDEIS is now delivered to a wider range of participants, ensure a larger demographic reach.
Have you had any feedback from participants that you wish to share or is there any other information you would like to highlight?
A significant amount of feedback is collected immediately following the delivery of an event via a Level 1 evaluation. To date, feedback has been extremely positive, however the RSF funding has allowed us to progress this feedback to a more in-depth level. As such the feedback will be shared at the conclusion of the evaluation.
It should be noted that the initial proposed evaluation was designed to analyse face-to-face inputs; however, due to the challenges with the pandemic this has now been reviewed and amended for analysis via MS Teams. The chosen evaluator has amended the proposal accordingly to take cognisance of this.
Was there any issues or challenges that you faced which would be helpful to others running similar interventions?
A number of financial challenges arose during the initial design of the scheme. To overcome this, the project team reached out to several local authorities and partners to assist with funding.
A significant amount of research was carried out with road safety partners to ensure that all material presented were appropriate, up to date and did not have a detrimental effect of any participants. Traditional hard-hitting road safety methods were deliberately avoided as research suggested these would have a negative impact on audiences.
Encouraging Uptake of Further Rider Training Through Motorcyclist Communications
Location/Organisation
RoSPA/Across Scotland
Priority Focus Area
Speed/Vulnerable Road Users
Commitment
- RSF 76: Provide support for motorcyclists, e.g. through advanced rider training schemes and raise awareness of bad or dangerous rider behaviour, through safety awareness initiatives such as Operation Zenith.
- RSF 77: Through RSS, support targeted publicity campaigns aimed at motorcyclists.
- 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 catergories of roads.
- RSF 73: Provide information on the benefits of lower-speed driving in relation to fuel efficiency, health impacts and road safety.
Initiative Summary
RoSPA's current Transport Scotland-funded project which is aiming to improve communications targeted at older drivers is providing a wealth of learning to be shared to the benefit of the entire road safety community across Scotland and there has already been interest in the project's findings from further afield.
The same would be true of this project, aiming specifically to encourage motorcyclists towards further rider training. Beginning with a comprehensive research phase, the project would utilise both primary and secondary research to establish an evidence base for a communications campaign that would complement other motorcycle safety interventions in Scotland. Road Safety Scotland's Live Fast Die Old: Breathtaking Roads initiative, for example, capitalises on the amazing opportunities provided by Scotland's geography, and includes written and video advice on safety. As stated above, there are also various providers of further rider training in Scotland. The innovation in this project would be that it would, for the first time, promote the concept of further rider training in general, adding a vital communications element to efforts to improve motorcycle safety across Scotland.
This project intends to provide qualitative and quantitative research data to influence future communications with motorcyclists that signpost them to further rider training. The results, when made available, will assist all future campaigns and interventions targeting this group.
Questionnaire
Describe how the Road Safety Framework fund has benefited your project?
The fund enabled RoSPA to implement the 'Better Bikers' campaign based on a sound footing of audience research which informed a communications campaign to increase awareness of the advantages of advanced training.
Is the project still ongoing after receiving the framework funding?
RoSPA plan to take the lessons learned from the campaign into their proposed delivery of the Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance (ScORSA) in 2021/22 and expand the audience and messaging to include those who drive and ride for work.
Have you considered rolling out this project in different locations/local authorities?
The Better Biker campaign was researched and implemented across Scotland. There is an opportunity to raise awareness of its findings through the local partnership network linked to ScORSA activity for 2021/22 to keep building on its core messages which are not time-bound.
Have you had any feedback from participants that you wish to share or is there any other information you would like to highlight?
The independent evaluation of the campaign noted that it was unique in its approach – targeting riders through their shared identity as motorcyclists rather than through the lens of road safety.
The key success factors for the campaigns were:
- developing the campaign messages from research with the target group;
- focusing campaign messages on enjoyment, rather than safety; and
- using social media tools to directly target the audience.
Was there any issues or challenges that you faced which would be helpful to others running similar interventions?
The key challenges for the campaign were monitoring the number of individuals taking up advanced training as a result of the campaign; and the restrictions on group activities, events and road use due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance (ScORSA)
Location/Organisation
RoSPA
Priority Focus Area
Speed
Age
Vulnerable Road Users
Commitment
- RSF30: Encourage and support the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) 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).
- 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.
- 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 69: Support the voluntary use of intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) and other technologies designed to encourage compliance with speed limits, through engagement with employers and the commercial sector.
Initiative Summary
With limited internal capacity, SMEs in Scotland often feel isolated or unable to address with confidence MORR (managing occupational road risk) issues. Whilst our current membership of 428 organisations have taken the initial step to progressing these as a priority, there is a need to reach out to all organisations in Scotland who have employees who drive for work. ScORSA recognises the importance of providing relevant information to businesses through appropriate formats. To ensure we at RoSPA continue to deliver relevant information to current and potential new members we will:
- Continue to enhance the ScORSA website to inform and encourage organisations whose employees drive for work by promoting the development of policy, increasing the resources available and developing associated MORR working practices.
- Ensure that the current website is accessed by members and others, acting as a gateway to our information/resources. It is imperative the content remains relevant and new information and research is posted for visitors. We seek through this medium to encourage more organisations to consider MORR as part of their mainstream health and safety within the workplace.
- Carry on with the communications campaign, in order to drive more people to the website, to become members and to introduce MORR practices. This will involve carrying out a 12-month campaign to raise the profile of ScORSA to a) increase membership and b) start a national debate to highlight the role and importance businesses have in reducing KSIs in line with the Road Safety Framework.
Objectives will be set against established benchmarks, and be SMART so as to be measureable and trackable throughout the year.
Questionnaire
Describe how the Road Safety Framework fund has benefited your project?
The fund enabled RoSPA to develop, manage and deliver the Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance. We engaged with the membership, increased member numbers, added resources and offered one-to-one advice sessions. The annual St Andrew's Seminar was replaced with a series of three webinars which allowed online networking opportunities in the face of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions on face-to-face events.
Is the project still ongoing after receiving the framework funding?
ScORSA is an active membership community and RoSPA has submitted proposals to maintain and further develop the network in 2021/22.
Have you considered rolling out this project in different locations/local authorities?
ScORSA is available to all businesses and organisations across Scotland and RoSPA actively promotes the group across all RoSPA geographies worldwide.
Have you had any feedback from participants that you wish to share or is there any other information you would like to highlight?
The annual independent evaluation of the project produced four case studies which highlight the benefit of ScORSA membership:
- Edinburgh College
- Scottish Autism
- CHAS
- A home care organisation
Was there any issues or challenges that you faced which would be helpful to others running similar interventions?
In 20/21 RoSPA faced the challenge of developing a network without the ability to hold face-to-face workshops or networking events. The development of one-to-one online advice sessions and a series of webinars with break-out workshop sessions allowed members to continue to share knowledge and experience among fellow businesses and organisations at a distance.