This report relates to a study of the organisation, resources and techniques employed by a cross-sectional sample of English local highway authorities (LHAs) in their attempt to meet or better the Government’s 2010 targets for casualty reduction. The study considered a range of performers (in terms of their success in reducing casualties up to the end of 2002) from each of the four different classes of LHA (county councils, unitary authorities, metropolitan district councils and London boroughs). The main objectives of the study were to identify the difference of approach between the good performers and the others, and to issue a guide so that all LHAs could benefit from the study’s findings. The main findings of the study are as follows: * In general, those LHAs whose strategic aims make clear reference to road safety are the better performers. * The better performers have a culture of casualty reduction, the poorer ones do not. * The better performing LHAs coordinate all work on the highway network, in particular schemes relating to safety and maintenance. The officers also actively seek external sponsorship to enhance low-cost initiatives usually associated with education, training and publicity (ETP). * In the better performing LHAs, all road safety practitioners work closely together and deliver casualty reduction on an objective basis. * The better performers use their collision databases in an appropriate way to make an objective judgement of where casualty reduction funding can be spent most effectively. * o The better performers carry out monitoring on an overall and project-byproject basis. Monitoring enables them to assess and evaluate past projects to give a beneficial input to new projects. (Author/publisher)
Abstract