The evaluation of police enforcement has traditionally been a major activity of researchers in the field of road safety. As a result of this a large variety of methods have been evolved which limits international comparisons and distribution of best practice. Therefore the final aim of our research is the development of standardized methods for the assessment of enforcement and non-compliance and guidelines for their application. The present paper describes the first step in this effort. As a starting point a literature review is performed, which focuses on assessment methods and tools applied by evaluation studies throughout the world. Enforcement areas under consideration are speeding (subdivided into automatic and conventional enforcement), red-light running, non-use of safety belts and alcohol-impaired driving. For the purpose of classification the assessment methods reviewed are stratified in accordance with four categories of information, which derive from the rationale usually underlying evaluation studies of police enforcement and which illustrate the principal assumptions made about the relations between police activity and road safety. These categories are: indicators of enforcement activity; drivers’ attitudes; drivers’ behaviour; accident analysis. As a result four tables summarize descriptive variables and indicators used in the studies under review. These variables form a first version of a classification table that will be applied and modified at the next step of our research. (Author/publisher) For an overview off all working papers and deliverables of the ESCAPE project, see http://virtual.vtt.fi/virtual/proj6/escape/deliver.htm
Samenvatting