Scotland’s Road Safety Framework contains a commitment to “Introduce a Scottish Road Safety Week after consultation with partners”. Between 4th-10th May 2015, a Scottish Road Safety Week (SRSW) pilot was undertaken to explore whether such an event could be delivered successfully and whether it may offer a positive contribution to road safety in Scotland. The SRSW pilot aimed to raise awareness of road safety across the country, but specifically focused on keeping children safe on and around the road, whether as passengers, pedestrians or cyclists. The pilot was developed by a collaborative working group consisting of a broad range of key road safety delivery partners including Transport Scotland, local authorities, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and other organisations2. The pilot was developed to align with the United Nation’s Global Road Safety Week both in terms of theme and timing to explore the potential to achieve shared outcomes. This report presents the findings of an evaluation to assess the possible impact the pilot might have had in realising the aims of SRSW and to provide evidence to help inform whether there may be value in developing SRSW as a regular initiative to support the co-ordination and delivery of road safety themed activity across Scotland’s delivery partnerships. The evidence collected to inform this evaluation suggests that the Scottish Road Safety Week pilot met its aims of raising awareness of road safety issues in Scotland, although it is less clear whether attitudes and especially behaviours were changed as a result of the week. Other benefits, such as increased co-operation amongst delivery partners, have also been identified as an outcome. Although those involved in the evaluation reported some challenges and scope for improvement, the findings from the evaluation suggest that in principle a Scottish Road Safety Week is a potentially useful initiative which would be broadly supported by delivery partners if pursued in the future. Feedback from the focus groups and online survey suggested that having a Scottish-specific road safety week had been useful as a means of providing a national focus to road safety issues in Scotland. This focus enabled delivery partners to highlight the activity undertaken throughout the year by a wide array of organisations across the country. Whilst the level of activity undertaken as part of the SRSW pilot may have been limited and varied from area to area, delivery partners generally showed a desire to be involved in some way. For instance, the majority of those responding to the survey indicated that they were involved in some sort of intervention or project during the week. Findings related to the JRSO competition facilitated by Road Safety Scotland suggests it was a useful tool for generating engagement with SRSW activity across a large geographical area in Scotland. Assuming that this was coupled with some sort of lesson or information related to the week and road safety more generally (for instance, tips or guidance), then it is likely to have been a useful way of promoting road safety across the country and raising the profile of the week as a whole at local level. That said, it is worth noting that participation levels in this activity varied greatly across the country. Analysis of media coverage and online interaction suggests that overall SRSW received a substantial level of media coverage during a busy news period, including articles in most high-profile newspapers in Scotland. Furthermore, a large number of people had the opportunity to see key messages on social media sites, whilst the “top tips” webpage created to provide road safety advice was viewed over 250 times. The online survey of delivery partners highlighted that although respondents thought activity during the week had been effective in raising awareness, they were less clear on whether any attitudes had been changed in the longer term given the limited nature and scope of activity undertaken. In relation to possible longer term impact, there was widespread consensus that SRSW allowed delivery partners to establish and strengthen relationships with other partner organisations and to co-ordinate plans and activity. Feedback received indicated that such relations have been maintained in some cases, and partners suggested that a regular SRSW could have a key role in bridging gaps and forming strong delivery partnerships, especially where relationships have been affected by a reduction in resources in some areas in recent years. It was felt that strengthening the network of road safety partners at local level and throughout the country would allow individuals to share ideas, tips and experiences which could further support and enhance the way road safety initiatives are delivered in Scotland. As such, research participants suggested that whilst there may have been some short-term benefit as a result of activity undertaken during SRSW, more substantial gains in terms of effective delivery may be achieved if partnerships forged through the development of the week can be maintained and enhanced further. Generally, there was consensus amongst delivery partners that any future initiative should be held during a period which aligns with activity already planned by delivery partners or at a time which may be more relevant to issues in Scotland (such as the beginning of the “cycling season”). There was also support for the idea that future events should allow a substantial lead-in time to enable partners at local level to plan and prepare for activity, and a more convenient time may aid the planning process. Whilst, there was a general understanding of the rationale to align the SRSW pilot to coincide with UN Global Road Safety Week, there was no particularly strong indication that this had brought any notable benefit, for instance increased impact. Indeed, some suggested that the one of the key benefits of having a Scottish week was that it would enable Scottish-based delivery partners to select a time and theme most suitable and beneficial for achieving impact according to specific issues and conditions in Scotland. The evidence presented by this evaluation suggests that the activities carried out as part of SRSW and their subsequent coverage may have had an impact on raising awareness of road safety in Scotland. This evaluation has found that delivery partners were not convinced about the impact of the week on attitudes and other outcomes, particularly in the longer term. However, there was support for the notion that SRSW was and could be in future a valuable addition to the range road safety initiatives which take place throughout the year. Furthermore, should a similar initiative be held in future, the views expressed by delivery partners through the focus groups and survey responses indicate scope for improvement to the development and planning process, which participants suggested will enhance the impact of any future road safety week. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting