This report has been produced in order to support a review of the Road Safety Education Officer Service (RSEOS) in Northern Ireland. The report provides a review of documentation and published data alongside new analyses of collision data in order to clearly identify what should be the priorities for the RSEOS going forward. Overall there are two main groups that are at ‘high risk’ of being involved in a road collision in Northern Ireland. These are: • Young people (aged 16-24), particularly males and in rural areas (drivers and pedestrians) • Older people aged over 65 years old The involvement of young people in road traffic collisions is of great concern and significant importance, with those aged 16-24 accounting for one-third of all road fatalities in Northern Ireland. The majority of 16-24 year old casualties are male. A greater amount of resource needs to be focused on reaching this particular group, arguably over and above all other demographic groups in Northern Ireland. Although children (aged 0-15 years) are not at high risk per se, their involvement in road traffic collisions is of significant concern, featuring prominently in the NI Road Safety Strategy. In particular those children most at risk of involvement in a road traffic collision are from deprived areas and are male. Other high risk groups have been identified from the literature as being: • Those driving for work • Foreign nationals In addition to the findings of the document and data review, new analyses identified key themes apparent in the Northern Ireland collision data. (Author/publisher)
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