Progress in traffic safety is the result of many efforts, starting with political decisions, the development of safety plans and safety actions and their implementation. This report explores ways of presenting information from the SUNflower+6 countries in such a way that it shows how the interaction between these factors leads to changes in the quality of the traffic system, and finally to differences in safety outcomes. Simple one-factor bar charts cannot be used to this effect. A methodology has been developed, which for each country results in a 'road safety footprint' showing the state of the art on road safety. The road safety footprint is based upon the different levels of 'the safety pyramid' which underpins the SUNflower methodology. As a result a footprint gives a representation of the road safety status and development over time in a country, which can be used for benchmarking. At this stage, the proposed methodology is considered as a first step in the definition of an overall methodology, which may eventually grow into a widespread tool for benchmarking road safety. The contents of the footprint has been specified on the basis of existing knowledge of the state of the art of road safety in at least some of the SUNflower+6 countries. At a conceptual level this has resulted in what is called a best practice scheme, which is rather com¬prehensive. This best practice scheme has been worked out in two levels of footprint schemes: a detailed footprint scheme and a summary footprint scheme. The safety indicators of these schemes contain (disaggregate) fatality numbers (final outcomes), indicators for the quality of the traffic system (safety performance indicators) and safety measures and programmes (policy output). The indicators reflect important safety characteristics of road users, road types, and transport modes. Examples are given of how to use the schemes to compare a country to a reference safety level, to compare development over time within a country, and to compare the safety performance of one country to another. A prototype expert system has been devel¬oped to enable users to carry out chosen comparisons. To collect input for the expert system, a template has been developed to fill in the data that were available in the framework of this project. Based on the available data, safety trends and disaggregate outcomes have been analysed for the SUNflower+6 countries, to get a deeper understanding of footprint outcomes. It was found that in the SUN countries the decline of safety risk started early and led to a low risk level per kilometre travelled. This fact is not new. However, it is also shown that the Central and Southern countries are closing the gap: seen over three time periods, from 1981-1983, 1991-1993 and 2001-2003, their initial arrears are diminishing in absolute terms. These recent positive developments in road safety are a reflection of the safety activities that have taken place in those countries. There is reason to believe that the more attention is given to road safety, the more this is translated in safety actions. And the more actions are taken in various areas of safety, the more safety is improving in the SUNflower+6 countries. Furthermore, large differences in fatality rates per transport mode were found between the countries. The Weighted Poisson Models technique made it possible to identify such differences. The first applications of the footprint methodology turned out to be promising. However, it must not be considered a finished job. The theory and application can be made more robust by strengthening the causal relationships between indicators at the different pyramid levels. The method can be improved further by applying it under practical conditions, and by using more high-quality data. Finally, it is recommended to keep track of new developments in road safety, and to incorporate these in the method. Such an ongoing process can eventually improve the quality of the footprint application. Moreover, and more importantly, it can give a better understanding of road safety developments, and form a solid basis for further improvements.
Samenvatting