Research budgets too often are among the first to be reduced in times of fiscal restraint. Public research organizations must remain aware of their public character, since they function in politically competitive frameworks. They must be able to respond in a timely manner to top-level officials when the opportunity arises, or risk losing and alienating an important clientele. The objective of road safety research is to contribute to the content and direction of public decisions in the field by providing scientific and technical support. Yet, decisions often must be made on questions on which little or no definitive research exists, while moderate levels of controversy may require relatively quick responses. Valid short-term methodologies can help fill this void and can enhance the ability of the research community to secure from the political-budgetary process the level of resources required to carry on a broad range of quality research by increasing the visibility of its expertise. Short-term methodologies, though, must be kept in perspective. Most decisions in road administrations are rather routine and are undertaken in a "stable" environment. This is conducive to applying the results of long-term research, which must remain the primary activity of research organizations. However, "open" decisions, i.e., not routine and not foreclosed to staff input by highly charged controversies or by firmly established governmental positions, offer the research community the opportunity to apply short-term methodologies in a useful and timely manner. If applied to appropriate questions, short-term methodologies can help research organizations to reach two important objectives: (1) contribute to a broader range of public questions; and (2) secure the necessary resources in the future.(a) for the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD abstract no 264967.
Abstract