This report is an attempt to illustrate and motivate the need for systematic evaluation of traffic safety information and also to point out some of the common problems in the implementation and interpretation of evaluations. Among the subjects discussed are: (1) the need for evaluations and the benefits of using available experience; (2) the importance of a systematic approach to evaluation work, and a number of alternative "frames of reference" for traffic safety information work; (3) a few basic issues regarding the intent, scope and ambition of an evaluation project; (4) the necessity of a close connection between the evaluation and explicitly formulated objectives of the information; (5) the difficulties of (5) the difficulties of obtaining completely unobjectionable data under realistic evaluation conditions, and some of the possible problems in the interpretation of results based on too few or, on the other hand, too many, observations and (6) some questions regarding organisational and responsibility matters in an evaluation. Finally, the author presents some of his personal views on evaluation work and appends a brief orientation of the current work on a US Standard for evaluation work in general and evaluation of education in particular. (A)
Abstract