My annual road safety presentation, updated for 2012.

1. Road Safety
Presented by: Duncan Vernon
Road Safety Manager (England)

2. Presentation Outline
About RoSPA
A brief history of Road Safety in the UK
The response to traffic injury in the UK: a system to tackle it
The response to traffic injury in the UK: strategy
Other approaches to injury: The World Health Organisation whole
system approach
Other approaches to injury: The social justice approach
Linking the various approaches
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

3. About RoSPA
RoSPA is an independent, registered
charity which was created in 1917
Our mission is to:
‘Save Lives and Reduce Injuries’
We promote safety in all areas of life;
on the road, in the home, at work,
in schools, at leisure and on or near
water.
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

4. Our Road Safety Activities
Policy Development – Evidence Based
Lobbying
Raise Public Awareness & Knowledge
Information Service
Education Resources
Driver and Motorcyclist Training (Advanced, Defensive, Fleet,
Instructor, Specialised)
Help employers to Manage Occupational Road Risk
Road Safety Engineering Training
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

5. What is an appropriate
intervention?
RoSPA draws the line
with two simple questions:
1) Is the intervention
proportionate to the risk?
2) What would be the effect
on others?
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

6. Road Casualties 2011
Killed 1,901
Seriously Injured 23,122
Slightly Injured 178,927
All Casualties 203,950*
First rise in road deaths since 2003!
5 deaths and over 60 serious injuries
every day
* Casualties reported to the police only.
The ‘real’ total is estimated to be over 700,000 a year,
including 80,000 who are seriously injured.
RoSPA’s Mission is to Save Lives and Reduce Injuries

7. Traffic Fatalities 1930-2011
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

8. Traffic Fatalities 1930-2011
1941: Road fatalities reach UK high of
9,161, around half of which are
pedestrian deaths.
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

9. Traffic Fatalities 1930-2011
1950-1965: Car and motorcycle
ownership increases, accidents also
increase.
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

10. Traffic Fatalities 1930-2011
1966: Road fatality rate reaches post war
high of 7,985
1967: Ministry of Transport publishes
“Road Safety: A Fresh Approach”
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

11. Traffic Fatalities 1930-2011
1967-2000: Large decreases in the yearly
number of fatalities
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

12. Traffic Fatalities 1930-2011
1987: First Large decreases in the yearly
1967-2000:UK road safety targets set.
The aim is to reduce
number of fatalities road casualties by
one third by 2000
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

13. Traffic Fatalities 1930-2011
2000: “Tomorrows Roads: Safer for
Everyone” published with new target of a
40% reduction in KSI by 2010
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

14. Traffic Fatalities 1930-2011
2011: Strategic Framework for
Road Safety
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

15. Changes to the way we get
about in the UK
In 1949: collectively we travelled 14.7 billion miles by bicycle in the UK.
In 2011: we travelled 3.1 billion miles
Increasing car ownership over the same period – fewer passengers
more drivers
Increasing amount of traffic but the amount of travel – time spent
travelling and number of trips has remained steady
1963: The Reshaping of British Railways
1963: Traffic In Towns
Increasing centralisation of functions outside of city centres
1991: The New Realism in transport planning
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

16. Peak Car?
Does car use continue inexorably, does it hit a saturated state, or does
it tail off?
Car use amongst some groups in the UK may have already peaked.
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

17. Response: Getting the right
systems in place
Central government sets the regulatory framework and the country’s
national road safety strategy. This includes:
Providing funding and resources to local government and others to enable
the delivery of road safety
Commissioning research
Collecting and publishing road casualty data
Setting standards for road design, driver and vehicle licensing, diver
training and tests
Traditionally vehicle design standards – now more at an European level
Managing the motorways and trunk road network
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

18. Response: Getting the right
systems in place
Local government has the legal duty to “take steps both to reduce and
prevent accidents” set out in the Road Traffic Act 1998.
Local authorities also have a duty to manage and maintain their road
networks under section 16 of the Traffic Management Act 2004.
Most Local authorities will have:
A road safety team who run; educational programmes, skills training e.g.
cyclist and young driver training, and publicity campaigns.
A Local Transport Plan (LTP) setting out their strategy, targets and
implementation plan for improving transport in their community.
Where a local authority is the local planning authority, it is responsible
for regulating and controlling new developments within its boundaries.
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

19. Response: Getting the right
systems in place
Much of this is set up to deliver “The Three Es”
Education
Engineering
Enforcement
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

20. Education
Delivered to all road users as a spiral curriculum with the aim of
helping road users becoming more safety conscious.
The Ten Principles for Effective Safety Education:
1. Encourage the adoption of, or 6. Use realistic and relevant settings and
reinforce, a whole school approach, resources
within the wider community
7. Work in partnership
2. Use active approaches to learning
8. Address known risk and protective
3. Involve young people in real decisions factors
to help them stay safe
9. Address psychosocial aspects of
4. Assess children and young people’s safety e.g. confidence, resilience, self
learning needs esteem, self efficacy
5. Teach safety as part of a 10. Adopt positive approaches which
comprehensive personal social and model and reward safe behaviour, within
health curriculum a safe, supportive environment
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

21. Education
Dealing with the road environment is a practical activity, and
compliments the theory taught through education.
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

22. Education
Famous, widely cited, letter in the New England Journal of Medicine in
1981 entitled When Health Policy Becomes Victim Blaming
“There is a potentially dark side to a policy that might emphasise only
individual responsibility in health. It is a side that could preach elite
moralism about health while failing to recognise (or ignoring) the
political, economic and environmental forces that shape or re-enforce
unhealthy behaviour”
Still true – education needs to focus much broader than individuals and
be coupled with empowerment and wellbeing issues
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

23. Engineering (Roads)
The physical construction and alteration of roads to reduce the
chances of accidents or reduce the risk of injury when accidents occur.
Based on data about where there is real risk, not perceived risk.
Generally focuses on sites where accidents occur regularly.
Most cost effective schemes prioritised higher.
Moving towards area treatment and route treatment
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

24. Engineering (Vehicles)
The design of vehicles to prevent Normal Driving
accidents and injuries. 1. Warning Phase
2. Assistant Phase
Historically focussed on crash safety 3. Pre Crash Phase
Accident
which is now a relatively mature field
4. Petty Collision
– still areas for improvement
5. Minor Accident
6. Severe Accident
Moved on to addressing the
After the Accident
Immediate factors which cause a 7. Post Crash/Rescue Phase
crash and preventing them
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

25. Engineering (Vehicles)
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

26. Engineering (Vehicles)
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

27. Enforcement
Road Traffic Law sets down a series of standards for road users to
follow.
Most accidents occur when a road user has deliberately or accidentally
violated the rules of the road.
The likelihood of being caught reduces the level of criminal road use
Primarily the role of the Police, but other Agencies – such as VOSA –
enforce other aspects.
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

28. Response: Government-led
road safety strategies
e.g. Tomorrow’s Roads –
Safer for Everyone
Safer for Children
Safer Drivers
Safer Infrastructure
Safer Speeds
Safer Vehicles
Safer Motorcycling
Safety for Pedestrians, Cyclists, and Horses
Better Enforcement
Promoting Safer Road Use
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

29. Safer for Children
Child (0-14) pedestrian fatality
rate per 100,000 : 1997
Italy - 0.49
Sweden - 0.54
Germany - 0.64
Netherlands 0.66
Austria - 0.79
Norway - 0.81
Denmark - 0.85
France - 0.91
Belgium - 0.94
Finland - 0.94
Spain - 0.94
Great Britain 1.21
Ireland - 1.31
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

30. Safer for Children
Actions!
Improve the safety of school travel
Create 20mph zones around schools and residential areas
Provide parents with the tools to teach basic road safety
Develop ISOFIX system for child seats
Practical Pedestrian Training such as Kerbcraft
Road Safety as an aspect of PSHE – KS 3 and 4
Make cycle training more widely available, increase helmet use, promote the
benefits of reflective clothing
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

31. Safer Drivers
Actions!
Instil the right attitudes from the start
A more structured approach to learning to drive
Development of the theory test to promote the responsible driving agenda
Introduce the Hazard Perception test in 2002
Enhance the status of advanced driving
Encourage refresher driver training for older drivers
Better driving standards for lorries and buses
Work Related Road Safety
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

32. Safer Speeds
Actions!
Publicise widely the risks of speed and the reasons for limits
Better guidance to local authorities on setting speed limits
More information on the road to help drivers choose appropriate speeds
Address the high limits on many Rural roads
Evaluate the new speed and traffic signal enforcement cameras
Evaluate rehabilitation courses
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

33. Safer Enforcement
Actions!
Promote public understanding of the law
Penalties which fit the offences
More emphasis on rehabilitation – courses to retrain offenders
Use of new technology
Greater levels of enforcement
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

34. Second three year review
Strategy is reviewed every 3 years
What progress has been made
towards the targets?
A Review of the Policies
Key Themes
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

35. Second three year review
Emerging themes
Largest concern is the slow progress on reducing deaths on the road
Rebuild of the way that drivers are tested – addressing attitudes and
behaviours as well as control skills
Increased cultural change for drivers at work
Road Safety Act 2006
New national Road Safety Delivery Board
Greater involvement between Road Safety and other Government objectives.
e.g. climate change, social exclusion, obesity, urban renewal can all share
objectives to reduce casualties.
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

36. There are other ways of
looking at injury
Based on the epidemiological triangle – host (who), agent (what) and
environment (where).
Agent
Agent
Environment
Environment Host
Host
Some communicable diseases have an agent (for instance poliomyelitis
or mycobacterium tuberculosis) - but does injury?
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

37. There are other ways of
looking at injury
Injuries have a sufficient and necessary cause
William Haddon’s work is particularly influential:
“The second and more
important group of injuries
comprises all those in which
the damage is caused by
the delivery to the body of
amounts of energy in excess
of the corresponding local or
whole body injury
thresholds.”
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

38. The World Health Organisation
systems approach
Best seen in the Swedish “Vision Zero”
The idea is to design a system
where energy cannot be delivered
in quantities that are likely to
cause a fatal injury.
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

39. Tolerance of pedestrians to
fatal injury
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

40. Tolerance of drivers to fatal
injury
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

41. Tolerance of drivers to fatal
injury
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

42. Social Inequality = Injury
Inequality
Transport is not an isolated
system within society
Social systems outside the
transport system impact on
traffic injury
Injuries are the result of the
way that society is structured
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

43. Action on the social
determinants of ill health
A growing international consensus for action on the social causes of ill
health
WHO world conference on 19-21 October, 2011
Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health:
“We, Heads of Government, Ministers and government representatives,
solemnly reaffirm our resolve to take action on social determinants of
health to create vibrant, inclusive, equitable, economically productive
and healthy societies, and to overcome national, regional and global
challenges to sustainable development”
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

44. Injury Inequality in the UK
A strong association between deprivation and injury.
Found strong consistency between studies over time and between
different areas in the UK
Some evidence that inequality is widening!!
Different measures of deprivation gave similar patterns – whether area
based measures (e.g. The Index of Multiple Deprivation) or individual
measures (e.g. social class or occupational group)
The strength of the association was different between road user groups
– there was very strong evidence for child pedestrian and cyclists,
much weaker evidence for drivers
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

45. Why is there a Difference in
Injury Rates?
Exposure to risk
Children in the quarter of families with the lowest income crossed 50% more roads
than those in the highest
Families were much less likely to own cars
Children more likely to walk to school and less likely to be accompanied
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

46. Why is there a Difference in
Injury Rates?
The Road Environment, Habitation and The Local Area
High population density
Long straight roads with terraced housing, which can encourage higher vehicle
speeds
Studies of on-street parking have come to different conclusions
Leisure Facilities
Children end up playing on the street because there is nowhere else to play –
there is little garden space and local parks are seen as dangerous. Parents report
that at least they can keep an eye on their children outside the house
Limited number, awareness and take up of formal leisure activities
Worries about changing land use and parks being turned into car parks
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

47. Why is there a difference in
injury rates?
Social Environment and Deprivation
Family size
Single parent families – social isolation or a lack of social support, and being
caught in a poverty trap due to lack of affordable child care
Large families – overcrowded accommodation with more than one child per
bedroom, and supervision is more difficult
Do ETP initiatives connect?
Un-equitable distribution of road safety efforts – how do we assess need?
How do we take account of the barriers to people adopting the safer behaviours
that we want them to – are they intrinsic or extrinsic?
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

48. Tackling social inequalities
Marmot Review Policy Objective A: Give every child the best start in life
Support families to achieve progressive improvements in early child
development, including routine support to families through parenting
programmes, children’s centres and key workers, delivered to meet
social need via outreach to families.
Provide good quality early years education and childcare
proportionately across the gradient. This provision should be
combined with outreach to increase the take-up by children from
disadvantaged families.
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

49. Tackling social inequalities
Marmot Review Policy Objective B: Enable all children, young people
and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their
lives
Increase access and use of quality lifelong learning opportunities
across the social gradient, by:
Providing easily accessible support and advice for 16–25 year olds on life skills,
training and employment opportunities
Providing work-based learning, including apprenticeships, for young people and
those changing jobs/careers
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

50. Leads us ultimately to the
question...
Who are we designing a safe transport system for?
In health care there is the concept of the inverse care law:
“The availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the
need for it in the population served”
Do we see the same thing in transport?
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

51. Some international examples
of good practice
Prioritising the needs of vulnerable road users in urban planning.
Bogota, Columbia: built specific cycling and pedestrian only routes,
one was car free. Developed a high capacity bus system. Fatalities fell
from 1387 in 1995 to 697 in 2002.
Delhi, India: current scheme to build corridors which segregate
different road users. Space was given to street vendors to prevent
disrupting the flow of bikes and pedestrians.
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries

52. Thank you
www.rospa.com
Duncan Vernon
dvernon@rospa.com
0121 248 2078