DUMAS is a 1.2M ECU project with 10 partners from 9 countries. It started in January 1997 and is scheduled to end in December 1999. The project brings together European experience and expertise on Urban Safety Management (USM), including practical examples from 10 towns. It considers the value of a town-wide strategic approach when considering safety and its integration into other urban strategies. The Research Phase produced a summary of the current knowledge on Urban Safety Management, plus a more comprehensive analysis of four specific topics - Speed, Accident Data, Vulnerable Road Users and Traffic Management. While the concepts of USM are widely known and understood, their implementation has been limited. The DUMAS vision is that safety should be integrated into all aspects of urban management. Design and assessment frameworks have been produced that give guidance to town planners and managers. These provide a checklist of issues that need to be addressed as part of the programme, with guidance as to how the processes need to be managed. Town studies are an essential part of the DUMAS project. In this phase we are investigating 10 study towns where safety activities have taken place and looking at the application of some of the concepts identified in the research phase. The political, legal, and social pressures will also be studied. If DUMAS can encourage more towns and cities to start USM programmes and raise the profile of safety, then it will have succeeded.
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