Winter 2011Scotland’s authority on road safety

TRISS: a valuable

contribution to safety

Launches: GIG,

crashmagnets.com

and ACPOS Festive

Safety Campaign

Inside this issue:

RSS SEMINAR DuNbLANE

The next edition of Direction will be published in June 2012. If you would like to contribute an article, interview or news report, please email direction@resolve-creative.co.ukEditorial tel: 0131 555 7585

DSA Launches Apps 3

Good egg helps crack child casualties 3

TRISS: a valuable contribution to safety 4

SPB look ahead 6

Teachers take note 6

RSS Seminar 7-12

Opinion: Single Service and road safety 13

Award winning Road Safety 14

Scottish roads get safer in 2010 14

Safer roads through improved education 15

New qualification 15

Festive campaign to dispel myths 16

Competition 16

Published by Resolve Creative Ltd, on behalf of Road Safety Scotland, Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TY

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DSA LAuNChES APPSandidates preparing for their driving theory test now have a handy new way to practise:

the DSA has launched an official range of iPhone apps on iTunes.

Around 141,000 people take their driving theory test in Scotland each year and the new apps extend the range of official help for learners as they prepare for their test and safe driving practices for life. There are three apps available: 1. A free-to-download taster of the

Official DSA Theory Test.2. The full Official DSA Theory Test

for Car Drivers, which prepares learners for the multiple-choice part of the theory test. It includes a study section, a practise section, mock tests and optional voiceover.

3. The Test Kit: which provides support for both the multiple-choice and hazard perception parts of the theory test.

27% of adults and 47% ofteenagers in the UK now own a smartphone, according to Ofcom’s latest CommunicationsMarket Report.

Contents

Submissions

Welcome

Awards recognition

Good egg helps crack child casualties

To find ouT more, visiT www.Tsoshop.co.uk

ver the last ten years, the Good Egg In-Car Child Safety Campaign has

contributed to the 72% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured in Scotland.

However, this year’s figures reveal startling results: of the 1,517 children’s car seats that were checked between June and September across 67 clinics,

an alarming 48% were either incorrectly fitted; unsuitable for the child or incompatible with the vehicle they were placed in.

Superintendent Alan Duncan, Lead Officer for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) National Campaigns said: “Recent figures show a fall in child passenger casualties, which is encouraging. However,

we are still finding children who are either not wearing seatbelts or who are restrained by unsuitable or incorrectly-fitted car seats.”

A growing concern is the number of car seats purchased on-line where, in some cases, parents are provided with very little information regarding the suitability of the seat or instructions on fitting it.

C

check www.proTecTchild.co.uk To find a lisT of cerTified ‘Good eGG’ reTailers.

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elcome to another post-Seminar edition of Direction. I hope you like the new style, and in welcoming a new production team, I would also like to thank James Luckhurst and Bill Smith of dbda

for their efforts on our behalf over a number of years. It’s not all that’s new as we have moved premises since the last edition, as well as undertaking some changes to the structure of the organisation and its meeting schedules.

As usual, we cover the Seminar in some detail and have a numbers of other interesting stories which I hope will be of interest.

Congratulations to Around the Corner and JRSO All Together for Road Safety for their success in the Prince Michael Awards Scheme (below) and congratulations to Leslie Harrold on the award of Fellowship of IRSO. Enjoy the read.

michael mcdonnell

oad Safety Scotland’s JRSO All Together for Road Safety has won a

Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in the Education and Training category, sponsored by Wincanton.

Along with some members of the JRSO Working Group, Mairi Blair was delighted to receive the award from Lord Robertson of Port Ellen on behalf of all those involved with JRSO work across the country (right).

The judges were impressed by the links being made to the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2020 and future plans for Scotland’s young road safety ambassadors to share ideas on the global stage.

RSS has been managing the JRSO resource in Scotland since 2002 and, to date, around 71% of Scottish primary schools have over 4,000 JRSOs facilitating road safety initiatives in the wider school community.

L-R: Margaret Graham, South Ayrshire Council / Catherine Tonner, West Dunbartonshire Council / Lord Robertson /Mark Hosker, 13hundred / Mairi Blair, RSS / Debbie Tuckwell, Highland Council / Barbara Ramage, North Lanarkshire / Sean Cusak, Wincanton

The motorcycle safety campaign, Around the Corner, received the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in the Motorcycle Industries Award category.

In 2007, Around the Corner was created to reduce the number of motorcyclists being killed and seriously injured on Scottish Borders roads. By 2009 fatalities there had fallen by 60%. For the

2011 motorcycle season it became the first Scottish national motorcycle safety campaign. The award was presented to Sandy Allan, Road Safety Coordinator with Lothian and Borders Police by Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, chairman of The Commission for Global Road Safety during the RSS Seminar at Dunblane.

www.jrso.com

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WBoth full apps encourage

candidates to prepare by supporting study, practice and testing. They provide detailed information on all 14 topics covered in the test; the capability for candidates to see how much they have learned by selecting questions on specific topics and a full mock test with 50 randomly-selected questions to be answered within 57 minutes: just like the real thing.

The apps include the full DSA explanation for every answer and references to the source materials.

They are the only apps on the market that include official case studies for each topic, and there are lots of other extras, including a complete digital version of The Official Highway Code and a theory test centre locator.

The official apps are available from iTunes and are suitable for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

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“The CCTV system providesTraffic Scotland with a real-timeview of traffic volume andcongestion and can be controlledremotely, allowing us to focus onour own role during incidents.”

he team here in Glasgow is run by Amey and comprises myself, as team leader,

eight permanent crew members, two reserves and two dedicated vehicles,” says Tommy Docherty, TRISS Supervisor for Amey.

“We now attend more than 7,000 incidents annually, and duties vary from positioning temporary traffic management at road traffic crashes, to removing debris and supporting drivers. We’ve even escorted a pregnant woman through heavy traffic to hospital: the baby was born ten minutes after arrival!”

Transport Scotland currently oversees five TRISS contracts nationally. “The range of functions is agreed by Transport Scotland and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) and, in addition to high visibility patrols within our designated area, each team undertakes formal safety patrols,” adds Tommy.

From Junction 29 of the M80 to Junction 6 on the M74 (including the M8, M73 and A725), Amey patrols more than 95 miles of motorway on a daily basis.

“We assess the condition and usage of the trunk roads and provide a valuable incident response, often arriving in advance of the emergency services,” says Tommy.

Each TRISS vehicle is equipped with a roof-mounted variable message sign (VMS), providing the ability to display advanced information/warnings in relation to road conditions or ongoing incidents, and one vehicle in Glasgow has a digital CCTV system.

“The CCTV system provides Traffic Scotland with a real-time view of traffic volume and congestion and can be controlled remotely, allowing us to focus on our own role during incidents,” adds Tommy.

The TRISS teams are often alerted to incidents from the Traffic Scotland Control Centre, in Glasgow, where the performance of the network is monitored 24/7 to improve operational efficiency. In this way, the TRISS Mobile VMS can be deployed whenever and wherever an incident demands.

“The service is highly visible to the travelling public and provides a valued contribution to congestion-

busting by making sure the network is cleared of incidents as quickly as possible,” explains Scott Lees, Trunk Road Operations Manager, Transport Scotland. “With 11,386 unplanned incidents and road works on trunk roads in 2010, the ability to deploy TRISS vehicles and minimise secondary accidents and time lost to travellers is a great benefit.”

Demand for Traffic Scotland’s services is increasing. In 2009, the 24-hour service answered 1,609 emergency roadside telephone calls, offering support and assistance to drivers, often through the direct response of a TRISS vehicle.

“People are always grateful for the support provided while stranded on the hard shoulder with high speed vehicles whizzing past,” adds Tommy.

As winter draws closer, plans are well advanced to cope with any repeat of the severe conditions experienced a year ago. “TRISS is now a key part of the winter response programme. We didn’t miss a single call-out last year and, in addition to helping stranded drivers get back on their way, we will stock space blankets, emergency fuel, water and nutrition bars to help.”

TRISS: A vALuAbLE CONTRIbuTION TO SAFETy

Since its introduction on the M8 in 2005, the Trunk Road Incident Support Service (TRISS) has expanded into a national service helping to clear incidents across Scotland’s trunk roads and motorway network and providing support to the emergency services, drivers and the work of Traffic Scotland. The service operates between 6:00am and 7:00pm, seven days a week; Direction talked to the crew in Greater Glasgow to get a flavour of what’s involved day-to-day.

The Trunk Road Incident SupportService (TRISS) supports thework of Traffic Scotland. TRISSnow covers South East area keyroutes (A720, M9, M8, M90,A92, A985); North East areakey routes (A985, M90 andA92) as well as existing SouthWest area routes (M8, M80,M73, M74, A725).

L-R: Amey operate TRISS on the M8 in Glasgow. Donald MacArthur, Thomas Docherty, George Smith and Alan Morton.

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Teachers take notenewly updated version of the Crash Magnets website (www.crashmagnets.com)

has been launched, providing teachers with a rich online resource to engage teenagers in discussion around road safety issues.

“Crash Magnets allows teachers to cover the key issues surrounding road safety through a series of ten online activities,” explains Kate Wheaton, Road Safety Policy Manager.

“The activities cover subjects such as driver distraction, speed, the cruise culture and drink- and drug-driving, with specific guidance for teachers on how to make best use of each unit.”

The activities are combined with DVD clips of other young people sharing their experiences alongside

facts and figures, and the site also enables pupils to play several road safety games.

“The original site was popular with young people as it is rich with case studies giving their own experiences, but we were finding that teachers were relying on the hard copy teachers’ notes and weren’t using the site as an in-class resource.

“The revamped site offers a great mechanism to get debate and discussion going with a wide range of age groups. In total there are 52 discussion points

highlighted, as well as facts, video case studies and games to help young people react confidently in situations where they might otherwise be put at risk.”

n an inspirational keynote address, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen spoke of his

commitment to road safety – a journey that began when he survived a serious road traffic accident himself, in 1986.

That event led to him becoming a champion for the introduction of compulsory seatbelt use in the UK, while an MP.

Lord Robertson, former Secretary General of NATO, is now chairman of the Commission for Global Road Safety and helped to garner support for the UN Decade of Action on Road Safety, which launched in May

2011 and involves 130 countries. The scale of the challenge

globally is immense. The WHO predicts that by 2030, RTIs will be the world’s fifth biggest cause of deaths, overtaking infections such as Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. By 2020, Booz and Company predicts that the number of vehicles on the world’s roads will double, exceeding 1.5 billion by 2018.

The target for the Decade of Action is to ensure that by 2020 the number of RTI fatalities is reduced to below one million globally, despite this increase in vehicle use.

“We still have a job to do to get over the message that this is an issue for public concern,” said Lord Robertson. “Road traffic injuries are the biggest single killer of young people in the world today. This year, one million children will be killed on the world’s roads.

“These trends can be reversed and we know how to do it, through measures such as seatbelts; speed limits and eliminating drink or drug driving.

“This is a huge economic as well as human problem. The world loses $100bn each year because of this carnage – equal to all development aid given to developing countries annually.”

The FIA Commission has already succeeded in staging a UN Debate on road safety, leading directly to the Decade of Action. It is now calling for a UN Transport Agency to focus on road safety.

“We need to ensure that vehicle and highway users are going to be safe. It’s not on the front pages because it happens at a trickle, but something should be done about it and can be done about it. I’m looking for your help in order to get the message over.”

he annual joint meeting of the Road Safety Framework Strategic

Partnership Board and Operational Group took place in September. The meeting was themed around young drivers and heard four presentations relevant to recommendations made in the report on the debate on young driver safety published in March this year.

The AA’s Edmund King, spoke about the organisation’s driver training, assessment and driver awareness schemes. Offering Scotland 500 free places on the Drive Smart scheme, which targets new drivers, Edmund also highlighted the Drive Confident course – featured on the Channel 5 series Dangerous Drivers – and Drive Tech, which operates as an alternative to points or prosecution.

The Board is now considering how best to promote the 500 free places.

Young Marmalade combine their ‘intelligent insurance’ package with the purchase of a new car to offer

young drivers a much safer proposition and reduced risk as they take to the road. Nigel Lacy, co-founder, explained that a ‘black box’ is fitted into the new car enabling the driver and their parents to review the driver’s ABCs – acceleration, braking, cornering and speed – after each journey.

Evidence from Young Marmalade indicates that their young drivers are more than 50% less likely to be at fault in any crash and the drivers benefit from insurance rates which average half the usual market rate.

Kathleen Braidwood, of RoSPA, presented a range of initiatives that will help develop the Young Driver @ Work programme, in partnership with the Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance (ScORSA).

Finally, Neale Kinnear from TRL presented the findings of research

undertaken by TRL into revisions

to the current driving test which could help reduce

collision risk among newly-qualified drivers. There are a number of options available, with further research required.

In the afternoon the Operational Partnership Group considered the presentations and discussed potential actions to address the 17 recommendations in the young driver debate. The output from that session will be circulated to the group members before being presented to the Minister for Housing and Transport and the Strategic Board early next year.

Jill Mulholland commented; “We had four stimulating presentations and a wealth of expertise and support in the Operational Group who have come up with some excellent and practical suggestions to consider.”

“We had four stimulatingpresentations and we have awealth of expertise and support inthe Operational Group who havecome up with some excellent andpractical suggestions to consider.”SPB look ahead

re you ready? Because time is critical… That was the call to action from Gregor Steele from Scottish Schools Education Research Centre (SSERC).

Gregor has collaborated previously with RSS, when SSERC developed Pimp My Trolley as a way to bring real life context to physics in the classroom. “We saw the benefit of road safety as an effective practical example and Catherine Dunn at SSERC worked with Elaine Lorimer, from Renfrewshire, to evolve this new practical exercise on reaction time and stopping distance,” explained Gregor.

“The Reaction Timer measures thinking time and uses this to calculate actual braking distance at varying speeds. It can also be used to highlight the difference

made through distractions such as mobile telephone conversations or changing a CD in-car.”

The Timers not only illustrate physics in action but offer a great way to debate some of the key behaviours among young drivers and pedestrians in classroom discussions. They also provide a valuable support for many experiences and outcomes under Curriculum for Excellence, not just in science.

Road Safety Scotland is now providing five Timers to every Local Authority, with ten units held centrally. A further 60 have also be given out through SSERC courses.

Reaction Time…HOW FAR WILL yOu GO?

young drivers: key to Seminar

GreGor.sTeele@sserc.orG.uk

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Lord Robertson made the keynote address.

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ill Mulholland, Road Safety Team Leader, reported on progress under the Road

Safety Framework. Over the past year, Scottish roads

have recorded their lowest casualty numbers since records began. Despite the vehicle stock now being over three times the numbers of 1962, the overall number of casualties in 2010 was less than half the figure for 1962 (13,334 compared to 26,700).

But there is no room for complacency, particularly as young driver fatalities and serious injuries still feature strongly in accident statistics. This is why Young Drivers were the Framework focus of 2011.

Analysis of accidents shows that speed, drink or drugs, distractions, failure to wear seatbelts and crucially lack of experience are all contributory behaviours to injuries in accidents involving young drivers. It is likely that Young Drivers will continue to be a focus for 2012.

Other achievements this year have included the launch of Scots

avid Leitch, from the Scottish Youth Parliament, offered an insight into the general feeling

among young people and their strong desire to be involved in relevant policy formation.

David is a member of the Strategic Partnership Board: “I have no technical or professional knowledge, but can provide a critical assessment of policy from a young person’s perspective at the correct stage.”

A non-driver himself, David warned that negative images and the dramatic uses of statistics and images can lead to a disproportionate approach from road safety professionals, one which could isolate young people and prevent the development of effective long-term solutions.

David had three specific recommendations for the Seminar:• Take young people with you when

attempting to meet a target.• Tailor the approach to make it

palatable and relevant to young people.

• Find a solution that benefits young people and reduces casualties. With the ongoing focus on young

drivers under the Framework, David highlighted that a proactive approach by the road safety profession at this time could bring significant benefits, including improved efficiency of time and resources by ‘getting it right first time’; creating a long lasting and generational shift in young driver attitudes and learning; and offering an example of best practice within Government.

hile Kate Wheaton updated attendees on Get into Gear, the new website went live.

Targeting parents, educators and those leading young driver interventions, the site brings together advice, resources and links for the newly available accredited qualification from RoSPA/SQA (see page 15.)

tephen Stradling, emeritus professor at the Transport Research Institute at Edinburgh Napier University, spoke about the national debate on

Young Drivers’ Safety, a report he completed for the Scottish Government earlier this year with transport consultant Atkins.

They interviewed major players from Transport Scotland, RSS, RoSPA, IRSO, ACPO(S), FRS, IAM and the ABI, held focus groups of pre-drivers and young drivers in Aberdeen, Highlands, Fife, Strathclyde, Edinburgh and Borders, and conducted an online survey of 250 young people and 380 parents and carers of young drivers in Scotland.

The participants were in agreement in wanting: lower insurance and help with the costs of learning to drive; a lower national drink-drive limit; and road safety awareness initiatives for pre-drivers, learner drivers and young drivers, including a diversion from prosecution course for young driving offenders.

Many, even amongst the young people, wanted a minimum period before taking the test, a harder test, and a post-test probationary period with ‘P’ plates.

Everyone other than the young drivers supported the kinds of constraints on night-time driving and peer passengers typical of a graduated licensing scheme.

The Report made 17 recommendations to Transport Scotland for provisions to be piloted and evaluated before, during and after young people are learning to drive.

connection between violence and road safety might seem tenuous, but DCS Carnochan focused on how both challenges

reflect social factors, and how behaviours are rooted in experiences in early years.

“Projections for 2014 indicate that, in some areas of Scotland, as many as 54% of households will be single parent. That’s not a bad thing per se, but there is a lack of positive male role models for young people who are left with no clear idea of what it is to be a man.

“We know that men, especially young men, seek challenge and risk in order to test themselves. RTAs are the highest cause of young deaths, and almost 70% of fatal crashes in Scotland involve young male drivers.

“In early years, children need predictability and explicability. In terms of both these behaviours we’re dealing with an iceberg – we only see the tip.”

From the work undertaken by the VRU, John argued; “we need to reduce the iceberg’s overall size by raising the temperature of the surrounding water, the social norms. We need to identify risks and appropriate prevention factors.”

John welcomed Ziggy as an early intervention: “It is not easy – every attempt to fix it will change it – but evidence shows that for every £1 we invest in the early years today, we save £7 later.”

Road Safety Framework updateand Gaelic Ziggy websites, publication of a safe school transport guide and a report on a nationwide safety of young drivers debate.

Looking forward, the Minister for Housing and Transport and the Strategic Board agreed that there should be a Scottish accredited award available to road safety officers. RoSPA are leading on this piece of work.

The road safety team are also considering with the Operational Group providing evaluation support though a centrally provided contract to help with evaluations and provide some skills transfer. This would be in addition to, not in place of, Eval-u-it.

Jill thanked those who had replied to the recent survey on the MAST tool. Consideration is now being given to providing a Scotland wide public sector licence to MAST.

Finally, Jill spoke about the potential for Scotland to have devolved powers to set the 70 and 60 national speed limits from next year, and the many diverse and strong opinions held on speed limits.

A young Person’s Perspective

Early yearsDCS John Carnochan, Scottish Violence Reduction unit

www.getintogear.info

The new Scottish targets, which commenced on 1st January this year, are:> 40% reduction in people killed> 55% reduction in people

seriously injured> 50% reduction in children killed> 65% reduction in children

seriously injured> The 10% reduction in slight

injuries target is also retained.

young Drivers: recommendations

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The Way ForwardPeter Harvey, Motor Schools Association of Great Britain

Dr Fiona Fylan, Leeds Metropolitan university

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here is strong evidence that Young Driver Interventions

(YDI) do impact attitudes immediately following a workshop. But embedding real behavioural change in the longer term is a far harder – and less documented – achievement.

Dr Fiona Fylan, Consultant Health Psychologist at Leeds Metropolitan University, has conducted evaluations of Road Safety Schemes delivered by road safety professionals, emergency service personnel and accident survivors through DVDs, workshops and techniques such as theatre in education. Her analysis

reveals that changes in attitude and intention are usually short-lived. To effect more long-term shifts in behaviour requires planning, supporting and rewarding change.

Describing 27 techniques that can help embed behaviour change, through nine stages, Dr Fylan acknowledged that practical constraints can make this level of support difficult. However, she called on road safety professionals to develop interventions with greater interaction from young drivers, more discussion, reflection and self-discovery – and whenever possible – extend the intervention over several sessions.

“Follow-up work does help embed safe driving behaviours,” added Dr Fylan, who also called on professionals to undertake and share more qualitative and quantitative evaluation on what works.

tewart Stevenson, Minister for Environment and Climate Change; and Minister for

Transport when the current Road Safety Framework was launched, was the guest speaker at the RSS Seminar dinner.

“The achievement of the Framework’s targets will be largely dependent on the collaboration, cooperation and professionalism of our road safety community, most of whom are here tonight,“ he told delegates. Central to this is the provision of education and social marketing campaigns and the Minister welcomed the launch of Get into Gear at the Seminar.

“Our road casualties stand at the lowest level since records began and we should be proud of those numbers, but we cannot be complacent,” he added.

The Minister welcomed the 17 recommendations brought forward for evaluation of post-test training, remedial interventions for offenders and improvements before and while young people are learning to drive. He also commended the Prince Michael Award winners, the success of the RSS campaign at the Scottish Car Show and the posters developed by Scotland’s JRSO to mark the launch of the Decade for Action.

“Thank you to all those who work tirelessly to shape these campaigns to remain current. Thank you for your commitment.”

ne in five newly qualified drivers in the UK are involved

in an accident within six months of taking their test (DfT, 2008).

Dr Sarah Jones, of Cardiff University, presented evidence to illustrate how graduated driving licence schemes can contribute to a decrease in casualties among newly qualified drivers, in places up to 60%.

“GDL allows new drivers to gain driving experience

under conditions that reduce their level of risk,” stated Dr Jones. “There are no rules on the exact structure and different countries have implemented a wide variety of measures; but it’s about graduated permission rather than restriction.”

Feedback highlights that young drivers themselves are often positive about GDL schemes, “as it means they feel less pressured to drive in situations where they feel less confident, such as night driving or driving with passengers.”

Citing the Cochrane review, which found only positive effects from GDL schemes of all descriptions, Dr Jones projected that a GDL scheme could save 19 lives a year in Scotland and prevent more than 1,000 casualties.

“The evidence is that graduated driving licence schemes reduce crashes involving young drivers.”

t the last count, over 3,600 car drivers aged 17-25 years were

involved in a reported injury accident in Scotland. Almost 70% were male.

“Studies show that novice drivers are amongst the most vulnerable of road users,” said Dr Helman. “Age may

reflect attitudes towards risk taking, sensation seeking, impulsivity and anti-social or criminal behaviour. But, as soon as they are given the chance to drive post-licence, drivers begin to learn very quickly how not to have crashes – real on-road experience is invaluable in lowering risk.”

Dr Helman highlighted that traditional approaches to training and education have not had any detectable direct effect on collision risk overall.

“A more comprehensive, i.e. graduated system, helps to delay exposure to high risk situations and allows drivers to build up skills through practise in low-risk situations.

“Based on the evidence, approaches such as graduated driving licence schemes, which seek to properly restrict exposure to risk, should form the basis of any licensing system – because they work.”

o produce better new drivers we need better new regulations.” That was the message delivered

by Peter Harvey, MBE, National Chairman of The Motor Schools Association of Great Britain (MSAGB).

MSAGB has been lobbying for a range of regulatory changes to improve driver training. They want to see:> Better regulated entry into driver training > Better regulated driver training> Better regulated motorway access> New regulations for driver trainer CPD.

There are 47,360 driving instructors in the UK, yet less than 5% currently undertake any form of Continuous Professional Development. MSAGB would like to see a single register of driver trainers and a requirement for all registered instructors to complete one day (seven hours) of CPD each year, as a minimum. Compliance would be checked randomly by DSA, with sanctions being suspension or removal from the register.

“We believe CPD ensures that consumers receive up-to-date instruction from up-to-date trainers,” added Peter.

He also outlined why MSAGB wants to see test candidates allowed onto motorways. “In some places these are the only high speed roads to be found. But candidates would be required to take the test in a dual-control vehicle.“

ercedes Benz and Seat, amongst others, are now offering schemes to enable

young people to gain experience driving on private roads, at an earlier age than the provisional

licence. These schemes, and their potential benefit, formed the focus of a series of three features in adiNEWS magazine; The Price of Experience.

“Qualified ADIs deliver the training,” explained Paul. “The schemes seem to be successful and popular, and allow new learners to gain confidence in handling a car before they face the open road. They gain a realisation of the challenge of driving, and learn basic practical and mechanical skills.”

However, Paul sounded a note of caution: “Research carried out in Sweden, in 1999, is often cited in support of early driving interventions. Sweden saw a 40%

reduction in crashes by novice drivers, but the research found the benefit derived from greater ‘on the road’ driver experience.”

The distinction is important: “Further research has shown that greater training experience in controlled environments can actually exacerbate the dangers post test, as the novice drivers can become over confident. There is no substitute for real on-road experience.”

Paul questioned why, 13 years after the Swedish research was published, the UK has not followed the likes of France, Germany and Holland, by lowering the age at which supervised driver training can begin on the road.

GDL worksDr Sarah Jones, Cardiff university

Long-term behaviour

ThANk yOu FOR PROGRESS SO FAR

The price of experience

New drivers are not all the sameDr Shaun Helman, TRL

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Paul Caddick

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Chief Constable kevin SmithKevin Smith is Chief Constable of Central Scotland Police, President of ACPOS and Chair of the Road Policing Business Area. Mr Smith is also responsible for leading police reform.

Chief Fire Officer, L&b Jimmy CampbellJimmy Campbell is the Chief Fire Officer of Lothian and Borders Fire Rescue Service and the Chairman of the Chief Fire Officers’ Association in Scotland.

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“There is a real danger ofinformation overload, whichmay be compounded byyoung driver characteristics.”

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oving to a single police force for Scotland is the most significant change to the service in its history and our priority, as it always has been, is to

deliver the best possible service for the people of Scotland. Although we will be changing how the service is

organised, the police service that the vast majority of the public see every day will not fundamentally change. Making Scotland’s roads safer will remain a priority. At the national level, through the Road Safety Partnership Board and by utilising partnerships at a local level, we will continue to work closely with colleagues in many organisations to identify and progress measures to reduce the number of people killed or injured on our roads.

Figures published this year show that our partnership approach is working, with the number of road casualties falling to their lowest since records began. Although we are proud of this achievement, we are not complacent and our collective vision is of a future where no-one is killed on Scotland’s roads.

Tackling the major issues which cause so many deaths and injuries on our roads will always be a policing priority. Every year, thousands of people are caught not wearing a seatbelt and the results of our summer campaign show there are still people willing to risk their lives and the lives of others by driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs.

As well as patrolling the roads day and night, we believe that legislation to make seatbelt offences ‘endorsable’ and a reduction in the drink drive limit would contribute further to reducing the number of casualties on our roads.

Through these measures and by continuing with our joint approach to road safety and casualty reduction, I am confident we can make Scotland’s roads even safer in the coming years and in the future under the new single police force for Scotland.

he Scottish Government

is set to introduce legislation that will reduce the number of fire and rescue services from the current eight services into one nationalised service for Scotland. Whilst the aim is to deliver efficiency savings and reduce duplication and overheads, I am confident there will continue to be an on-going commitment to road safety from the new service.

Structural change will bring challenges but also opportunities to ensure we identify best practice in road safety initiatives across the country and use that as a template to continue our record of excellent service delivery.

The Scottish Government Go Safe – Road Safety Framework, and targets for reducing road fatalities and casualties, is recognised as the starting point for all partnership efforts. We will continue to play a key role in delivering Government targets. Our ability to engage, in particular with the younger/inexperienced driver has led to a CFOA(S) Road Safety Framework supporting the Go Safe strategy, which will be an integral part of the new service’s strategy on road safety initiatives.

The nationalised service brings with it the opportunity to ensure a coherent and consistent message on safety throughout Scotland. We are determined that we will play our part in ensuring that Scotland is one of the safest countries in the world when it comes to safety on our roads.

SINGLE SERvICE ROAD SAFETyour out of five road traffic

incidents involve driver inattention,” explained

Dr Terry Lansdown, who conducted his own research into the prevalence of distracting behaviour in the UK, in 2009.

Young drivers are more prone to distraction than others, and have less experience of how to deal with it in a potentially dangerous situation.

Four factors lie behind the majority of crashes involving young drivers: “inexperience in vehicle control, poor identification and anticipation of hazards, low resistance to peer pressure, and a shortfall between skills and demand.”

Dr Lansdown’s own research shows that, in a typical week, 40% of respondents had written a text message while driving; 60% of drivers have read a text while driving and 34% admit to using

a hand-held phone. “This generation of new drivers is exposed to more information in-car than any before. There is a real danger of information overload, which may be compounded by young driver characteristics.”

Potential interventions include campaigns such as ‘If you don’t trust the driver, don’t get in’, in Australia; graduated driver licensing schemes, or technology-supported systems, such as event-triggered cameras in-car. “These enable parents to review a young driver’s behaviour, and support them by mentoring while not criticising.”

young Driver Distractions

Tracking driver behaviour and attitudes in Scotland

parTicpaTe in dr lansdown’s nexT round of research: hTTp://lansdown.sls.hw.ac.uk/disTracTion

What will be the implications for road safety of the new single police and fire forces in Scotland?

Dr Terry Lansdown, Heriot-Watt university

Chris Eynon, TNS-BMRB

ince September 2010, the market research group TNS-BMRB has been monitoring

driver behaviour and attitudes in Scotland. Their quarterly survey offers a way to track key issues relating to road safety on a continuous basis.

Chris Eynon presented results from an aggregated sample of 1,792 drivers from the three surveys run to date.

Fourteen risk-associated driver behaviours – from eating at the wheel to speeding or using a mobile phone – are presented to the sample. “72% reported doing at least one of these risky behaviours in the past 12 months. More worryingly, 58% admitted to doing at least one illegal behaviour,” said Chris.

“There is a group we call the ‘serial risk-takers’ which makes up

11% of drivers. They admit to at least five risky behaviours. More than 60% are older than 35 and 72% are male. Most also drive more than 10,000 miles a year.”

This group recognise the risk of being caught and are aware of the penalties but persist in risky behaviour. 72% have been penalised in the past.

“There exists a nucleus of drivers who are generally non-compliant in behaviour and attitudes across most aspects of their driving,” said Chris. “This may reflect over confidence in their driving ability; an acceptance of this risk; failure to recognise these behaviours as unacceptable, socially or otherwise and an absence of any strong deterrent in the current level of penalties.”

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14 Winter 2011 Winter 2011 15

AWARD WINNING ROAD SAFETy CAMPAIGN

New road safety qualificationlements of a new SQA-accredited road safety qualification are soon to be

piloted and road safety officers are invited to take part.

The new qualification comprises three different award levels. It has been developed, with funding from Transport Scotland, by a working group from a range of organisations including IRSO (Scottish Group), Road Safety Scotland, SCOTS, SQA and CFOAS, facilitated by RoSPA Scotland.

Kathleen Braidwood, Road Safety Officer at RoSPA Scotland, said: “This national award will embed best practice and ensure there is a

consistent level of basic skills and understanding across the country, providing road safety professionals with an accurate knowledge base to help them carry out their roles.”

The three award levels are: Part 1 Scottish Road Safety – Delivering the Framework, which includes five core skills units and one of seven specialist topics, which include road engineering, evaluation, road traffic legislation, sustainable transport and managing occupational road risk. Part 1 can be studied by distance learning and requires written or oral evidence or witness testimony in the core skills. Candidates then complete

a further four specialist topics in order to achieve Part 2 of the award – Scottish Road Safety – Specialisms within the Framework. Part 3 – Scottish Road Safety – Expertise within the Framework – will be at a more advanced level and will be developed in 2012/13.

Each unit that makes up the qualification will be SQA credit-rated.

SAFER ROADS ThROuGh IMPROvED EDuCATION

he new Get into Gear SQA RoSPA-accredited module is helping those who want to

run Young Driver Interventions (YDI) to consolidate best practice and become qualified education partners.

“Accreditation means trainers are fully equipped with the skills and knowledge to deliver an evidence-informed YDI,” explains Kate Wheaton from the Transport Scotland Road Safety Team.

The Get into Gear SQA Level 6 core module launched in November, with eight people on the inaugural course. It is suitable for candidates who have either a professional or personal interest in road casualty reduction and explores the full range of issues affecting young drivers.

Road accidents overall have been declining over the last decade, but young drivers and powered two-wheeler (P2W) riders

are still identified as high-risk groups. In fact, 17-25 year-olds account for just 10% of licence holders but are involved in 20% of accidents on Scottish roads.

In real terms, this means one person aged between 17 and 25 is killed on Scottish roads each week and six young people are seriously injured – some of whom will be permanently disabled or scarred.

Furthermore, single vehicle accidents are more common among young drivers (around half, compared to a third of others) and are often a result of the driver losing

control of the vehicle.

“Many people working in community safety partnerships are confronted with the reality of these tragic events and feel compelled to offer their services through YDIs, in the hope that they can make a difference,” adds Kate.

“The experience of the past decade has shown that young driver interventions can consolidate pupils’ previous learning and engage them in the subject of becoming a safer road user. Candidates who complete this unit can be confident they are fully-equipped to plan and deliver effective educational interventions aimed at young people, families, schools and communities.”

The fourth Scottish Car Show sponsored by RSS took place in July and was a resounding success.

You can reGisTer for The GeT inTo Gear module aT www.GeTinToGear.info

anYone inTeresTed in parTicipaTinG in These piloTs should conTacT rospa@scoTTishroadsafeTY.com

S cotland’s roads are getting safer. That’s the trend highlighted in

the latest figures released by Transport Scotland, in October.

While remaining too high, at 208, the number of deaths on Scotland’s roads has fallen to the lowest level since records began in 1962. Compared with the figure from 2000, the number of fatalities has fallen by 36% in the first decade of the century.

Scotland now has the eighth lowest rate for road fatalities, among 41 countries that publish statistics. There were 1,964 people seriously injured in 2010, 14% fewer than the previous year. The number of reported casualties also fell by more than 10%, to 13,334.

Scotland’s motorways have the lowest accident rates. Fatal accident rates tend to be highest for non built-up A roads, but overall accident rates (including slight injury accidents) tend to be highest for built-up B, C and unclassified roads.

There were four children killed in 2010. This is one less than in 2009. A further 1,376 children were road accident casualties (a drop of 7%). However, this represents less than half the number of child casualties reported on Scotland’s roads in 2000.

Scottish roads get safer

www.TransporTscoTland.

Gov.uk/news/reporTed-

road-casualTY-sTaTisTics-2010

he Scottish Car Show provides an excellent platform for RSS to connect

with an audience of young drivers in an environment where they are in a ‘driving’ frame of mind. This year was the biggest event yet, attracting approximately 20,000 people.

Along with its ad agency, The Union, and other partner organisations, RSS developed a number of engaging installations that illustrated the potential risks to young drivers, helped to attract visitors’ attention and brought road safety messages to life in interesting and engaging ways.

The installations needed to stand out in the busy environment and challenge drivers’ perceptions, stimulating them to re-evaluate their attitudes to taking risks. One featured a floor vinyl that illustrated how the impact of crashing at 60mph is like falling from a 20-storey building.

There was also a car suspended from a crane three storeys high, to visualise what it’s like to crash at 30mph without a seat belt.

Elsewhere, cubical doors in the toilets were redesigned to look like jail cells, highlighting the consequences of drink-driving.

Support from Lothian & Borders’ Police and Fire and Rescue Services, along with police colleagues from Northern Ireland also contributed to the success of the day through additional displays and resource.

The result was more than 6,000 in-depth engagements with the staff and a fantastic response to our road safety competition.

The positive response to the floor vinyl in particular has resulted in Road Safety units all over Scotland ordering replica vinyls that can be used at events across the country.

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The success of this year’s RSS campaign has been recognised within the marketing industry at the Scottish Advertising Creative Awards 2011. The innovative floor vinyl (below) and jail cell displays (above) were given the top award in two hotly-contested categories.

16 Winter 2011

he forfeiture scheme – introduced by ACPOS and a number of partners in 2009

– made a significant impact in 2010 and is to be extended this year, with drivers considerably over the limit and those refusing the test now facing the forfeiture of their car, even for a first offence.

In planning this year’s campaign, research commissioned by The Union Advertising Agency, focused on attitudes among male drivers aged 20-55. It found:• Habitual drunk-driving is

condemned, however comparatively low-reading drink-driving is still regarded as more socially acceptable.

• This attitude is compounded by beliefs and experiences around the impact of alcohol on individual driving abilities. Many drivers appear to rely on a subjective assessment of their own ability to drive – their ‘public risk’ assessment – rather than an understanding of the real legal risk to themselves if stopped for any reason.

As a result, some drivers continue to ignore the law to varying degrees and the Festive Safety Campaign seeks to increase awareness about the probability of being stopped by Police, while reinforcing that even being ‘just over’ the limit is unacceptable.

The campaign will also challenge drivers’ ‘personal’ approach to drink-driving by strengthening the legitimacy of the Government limit.

“There is clearly a need to reinforce unequivocal information around first-time offending – regardless of reading level – and to dispel myths around leniency,” explains Nicola Jarvie, Account Manager at The Union.

“The biggest consequence of being caught is still seen as loss of licence, with all the subsequent consequences well understood; however, it isn’t widely known that this consequence is applicable to everyone caught, regardless of the amount they are over the limit.”

Analysis into the impact of the 2010 campaign found that 95% of the target audience agreed that drink-driving was not worth the risk.

FESTIvE CAMPAIGN TO DISPEL MyThS

Here’s your opportunity to collect a £50 Marks & Spencer voucher, courtesy of Road Safety Scotland.

All you have to do is correctly answer the following two questions, based on the presentations reported from this year’s Conference at Dunblane.

Send you answers by email to direction@resolve-creative.co.uk, to arrive by Friday 3 February 2012 and the winner will be notified by Friday 10 February 2012.

The two questions are:1. By what percentage has the

number of fatalities on Scottish roads fallen between 2000 and 2010?

2. According to Lord Robertson, what is the next priority for the FIA Commission?

COMPETITION

RSS is supporting the ACPOS Festive Safety Campaign, which launches on 5 December. It is estimated that around one in seven fatalities on Scotland’s roads continue to be the result of drink-driving.

The 2011 Festive Campaign includes this beer mat to highlight the legal risk drivers face if they are over the limit, if stopped for any reason. The campaign will feature posters, leaflets and TV and press advertising.

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conGraTulaTions To emma Thomson of souTh aYrshire council, who won our lasT compeTiTion.