Scotland's Road Safety Framework To 2020 Annual Report 2012

Road Safety Scotland (RSS)

Drivers Aged 17-25

19. RSS was the principal partner in the Scottish Car Show at Ingliston in July, with almost 10,000 people, many in the target age group, attending the show. In partnership with Lothian and Borders Police, Fire and Rescue Service and Safety Camera Partnership, speed, seatbelts, drink driving and the effects of a crash were all addressed. In addition the Fire and Rescue Service gave a live demonstration of cutting a victim out of a crashed car.

Drink Driving

20. RSS once again supported the AS Festive Campaign with a re-run of the "Cut Up" TV advert. This was shown for three weeks in December 2012 accompanied by supporting media. The advert challenged drivers about their attitude towards drink driving with the strapline "If you choose to drink and drive, you choose to give up your licence". It can be viewed here: Cut Up

Motorcyclists

21. RSS 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. In 2012, RSS also funded the reprint of the Bikesafe Leaflet which is used by the police to promote the scheme locally.

Distraction

22. The Distraction advert, complete with a new voiceover, aired for four weeks in March 2012 alongside the Rural Road Adverts. To continue to highlight the danger of distraction, RSS also created the first ever live cinema advert in Scotland with a view to it going viral. It has achieved over 30,000 hits on YouTube and can be viewed here: Distraction Live 2012

Drivers from Abroad

23. The updated version of the Foreign Drivers' leaflets (in French, Lithuanian, Russian and Polish) were posted on the RSS website and 35,000 copies of the tourist leaflet "Driving in Scotland" were printed and distributed via the road safety community, and Visit Scotland offices. Further copies were distributed by a large car rental company in Scotland. They can be viewed here: Foreign Drivers Leaflet Tourist Information Leaflet

Impairment

24. AS ran a two-week Summer Safety campaign in June which focused on drink and drug driving. During the campaign, 229 drivers were reported for drink driving, 3 for being unfit through drink and 10 for being unfit through drugs.

Rural Roads

25. The evaluation of the 2011 campaign suggested that the "Unpredictable" series of adverts were being viewed as generic speeding adverts. In 2012, this was addressed using on-screen captions to reposition the campaign back on rural roads. The new campaign ran on TV and in cinemas for four weeks in March and was supported by radio and garage forecourt advertising, as well as a number of press platforms. The adverts can be viewed here Unpredictable 2012

Seatbelts

26. In collaboration with RSS, Arnold Clark and road safety units across the country, the Dynamic Advertising Group co-ordinated the "Good Egg" campaign in 2012. Following on from a presence at the Scottish Baby and Toddler Show in April, the campaign proper launched on 25 June. Over the course of the next few months, over 1,400 seats were checked at clinics and other events across the country. Of these 75% were fitted correctly (45%) or had minor faults (30%). Worryingly, 18% had major faults and 9% of seats were incompatible with either the child or the car in which it was being used.

27. Seatbelts were also a focus of the three events in which RSS was involved this year with the seatbelt sleds in use at the Scottish Car Show (Knockhill), the Royal Highland Show (Ingliston) and the Scottish Car Show (Ingliston).

Research and Evaluation

28. One of the 96 commitments in the Framework states that we will "Encourage and support the use of intelligence-led road safety targeting". It is important that road safety interventions in Scotland are designed based on clear evidence, and it is equally important that we evaluate what we do - RSS has been very active in 2012 in terms of research and evaluation. RSS funded the continuation of the Road Safety Information Tracking Study by TNS-BMRB (c. £36,000). RSS has also arranged the evaluation of their participation in the three national events at point 27 at a cost of £19,000.

29. The process for evaluating "Your Call" has also begun, at a cost of £25,000. "Your Call" is a resource for 11-14 year-olds, statistically the most at-risk age group, with flexible lesson plans that link to Health and Well-being, and a learning style which is fundamental to Curriculum for Excellence.

30. RSS is funding a PhD student from the Psychology Department at Nottingham University to undertake a study into in-car driver distraction, at a cost of £18,000. There are also plans to evaluate the effectiveness of the Vehicle Forfeiture Scheme (which is a recent addition to the array of measures to control levels of drink-driving in Scotland). A study has also been commissioned to better understand the nature, prevalence and reasons for prolific non-compliant driving behaviours, e.g. driving over the speed limit or drink-driving, with a view to informing future policy development and social marketing campaigns at a cost: of £19,000.