Business plan
Mission Statement
To reduce road deaths and injuries by supporting and encouraging partnerships between the motor industry and related companies, traffic engineers, the police, public health authorities and road safety professionals to promote the safe design and use of vehicles and roads by sharing knowledge and encouraging innovation.
Background
RoadSafe was established in 2002 as a safety partnership of leading companies in the motor and transport industries in Britain, the Government and road safety professionals. It aims to reduce deaths and injuries caused on the road and promote safer road use. RoadSafe has a discreet audience – professionals, influencers and decision makers in the field. The primary business objectives set for its initial years were to:
- Build credibility with road safety practitioners, the media and HMG.
- Promote best practice amongst those with a primary concern for road safety.
- Demonstrate the commitment of sponsors to improved road safety
RoadSafe is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity whose board of directors are its trustees. The charitable objects are:
- To advance the education of the public concerning road safety.
- For the public benefit, to promote road safety through the provision of awards.
RoadSafe is now acknowledged as a leading forum for promoting and devising solutions to road safety problems. We operate at high level, bringing together the leaders in road safety education, engineering and enforcement, encouraging them to work together in partnership with us. We are highly regarded and are actively broadening partnerships further to include representatives from all the major stakeholders. Above all we punch well above our weight.
RoadSafe is unique in that it provides the only UK NGO dedicated solely to road safety in which a wide range of stakeholders can develop a common understanding of issues in this field and through which sponsors are able to demonstrate their commitment to improved safety.
Our strategy has been to build partnerships, coalitions and alliances with other stakeholders in the road safety field to stimulate new thinking and spread knowledge on good practice more widely. This has earned us credibility and recognition for being independent, responsible, well connected and sensible with central and local government, the police, road safety leaders and the roads engineering community.
However with significant technical advances in vehicle safety engineering, a steady year on year reduction in casualties, and the ever increasing budgetary pressure, some sponsors wish to review the role and operational direction of RoadSafe. There is an increased wish for us to be more proactive and to use RoadSafe to demonstrate the industry’s huge commitment to improving road safety in a way that is collectively more effective than the sum of the very valuable and hugely important individual initiatives.
Faced with this challenge and a steadily increasing diversity of sponsors and members this is an ideal opportunity to develop the business plan to meet the new challenges.
Facing New Challenges
For the last three years our business plan has reflected the need to address the following challenges:
- Effective and acceptable speed management.
- Effective enforcement and appropriate penalties for traffic offences.
- Improved public and personal education.
- Sound primary legislation.
- A greater public understanding of the effects of alcohol and drugs.
- The rapid introduction and use of new vehicles with the latest safety technology
- Road safety at work.
- Reducing the risk to young drivers.
- Improved roads which encourage drivers to drive more safely.
- Not just meeting the targets but beating them.
RoadSafe fully supports the Safe System approach to safety management which sees the road user as the weakest link in the transport chain, unpredictable and capable of error, education and information efforts notwithstanding.
In the event of a crash, the impact energies remain below the threshold likely to produce either death or serious injury.
The approach is central to RoadSafe’s philosophy as it addresses all elements of the road transport system in and integrated way with the aim of ensuring crash energy levels are below what would to cause fatal or serious injury.
Our work programmes will concentrate on encouraging the rapid adoption of technology to reduce crashes and a greater sense of personal responsibility by all road users including the use of travel plans for all ages with an emphasis on those who drive for work.
In priority order we will focus on:
• Road safety at work
• Reducing the risk to young drivers and riders
• The rapid introduction of safer vehicles into the market
• Effective and sensible speed management
• A greater public understanding of the effects of alcohol and drugs
• Improved roads which encourage drivers to drive more safely
RoadSafe is a business to business organisation which is there to support the professionals and offers a demonstration of the industry’s commitment to the ‘Systems approach’.
Our approach is to provide professional support with newsletters, a web site and magazine as well as regular appearances at conferences underpinned by full engagement with the DFT Road Safety Division and government agencies.
Target Audience
Our key audiences will continue to be those who have a professional responsibility for improving road safety and those who influence them. This will include police, road safety officers, researchers and officials at local and national level. It will also include company decision makers especially in the field of road safety at work and the media.
Governance and Organisation
To ensure transparency and aid delivery of the plan, RoadSafe will be reorganised into three business areas each working to promote improved education, innovation, and new thinking:
- Management, Policy and Representation.
- Projects and Publicity
- The Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards.
RoadSafe has a board of trustees selected from its key sponsors and three independent members.
Policy and technical advice is provided by an advisory panel of road safety experts.
Programmes
Based on the challenges listed at Annex A, our main work programmes will concentrate on encouraging the rapid adoption of technology to reduce crashes and a greater sense of personal responsibility by all road users including the use of travel plans for all ages including schoolchildren and those who drive for work.
In priority order we will focus on:
- Road safety at work
- Reducing the risk to young drivers and riders
- The rapid introduction of safer vehicles into the market
- Effective and sensible speed management
- A greater public understanding of the effects of alcohol and drugs
- Improved roads which encourage drivers to drive more safely
Road Safety at Work
To encourage employers to recognise the implications that more than half of deaths at work take place in road traffic accidents and to encourage the availability of cost-effective measures to reduce their number, and give much higher priority to this part of their job, RoadSafe will:
- Continue to lead the development of The Occupational Road Safety Alliance (ORSA).
- Work with the fleet magazines to promote road safety at work messages.
- In partnership with media companies develop a series of regional workshops to promote ORS messages.
- In partnership with the commercial vehicle manufacturers, the Highways Agency and the haulage industry identify ways to reduce the level of commercial vehicle crashes.
A major programme will be to develop and co-ordinate a network of employer champions to promote good practice in order to catalyse a reduction in deaths and injuries caused by vans and cars used for business purposes. This Driving for Work Business Champions outreach programme will be funded by DfT grant aid. (See Annex B)
RoadSafe has been awarded a new three-year contract to continue to deliver this porgramme which was launched as the Driving for Better Business campaign in 2008.
The campaign will include:
- The recruitment of more 'business champions' and the enhancement of the network of other organisations, such as trade associations, to promote the business benefits of at-work driving safety.
- The launch of a high-level steering group, which is to be chaired by John Lewis, chief executive of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association.
- The launch of a stakeholder forum, which is to be chaired by Rob Gifford, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety.
Young Drivers and Riders
To encourage those responsible for educating the young to realise their role in reducing death and injury among young people aged 17 to 25 through the encouragement of programmes to reduce risky riding and driving, RoadSafe will build an alliance of organisations to:
- Promote a more structured approach to learning to drive.
- Promote greater parental involvement.
- Promote the introduction of road user education into the secondary school curriculum.
- Raise the standards of driver training
RoadSafe’s view is that additional restrictions on novice drivers are unlikely to have much impact and would simply be seen as unfair. Instead we recommend a fresh approach to aspects of preparing young people to drive.
Working with new partners and closely with the Driving Standards Agency and the Department for Transport, RoadSafe is urging that a fresh approach using a holistic and structured plan of education and training that addresses all goals of driver education is adopted along with the development of a new type of instructor. The approach should be to educate potential drivers to cope with the risks they face rather than simply to enable them to pilot a vehicle along roads.
Safer Vehicles
To encourage the adoption of the development of safety features on vehicles as soon as they become available, in particular to encourage the rapid adoption of active safety systems and the development of pedestrian protection systems, RoadSafe will:
- Raise public awareness of new safety technologies
- Provide support material for three industry road safety campaigns each year.
- Promote the use of active safety systems and safety technology through the magazine and RoadSafe news.
- Provide generic information on active safety systems and safety technology to road safety professionals.
eSafetyAware
In 2001, the European Union therefore set a target of halving the number of road deaths by 2010. To achieve this ambitious goal, ensuring optimal protection in the event of a crash is not enough. More has to be done to prevent the accident from occurring in the first place. This is where intelligent vehicle safety systems, so called eSafety systems, can make a huge contribution.
RoadSafe has been accepted into the European eSafetyAware! Programme, which seeks to accelerate the market introduction of such life-saving technologies by organising information campaigns and dedicated events aimed at creating awareness of eSafety benefits among policy-makers and end-users. The communication platform is open to all with an interest in eSafety, and includes members from industry, public authorities and user organisations. The European Commission and DfT along with the main braking component suppliers including Bosch are strong supporters of the initiative.
A key event being supported by RoadSafe is The e-Safety Challenge 2010
T
yre Safety
The Tyre Industry Council has reformed as TyreSafe and is now a RoadSafe partner with a reciprocal arrangement.
Effective and Sensible Speed Management
RoadSafe believes that eliminating excessive speed will save lives. The challenge is for driving at inappropriate speed to be seen as anti social. We will seek to work with others:
- To support and promote programmes of coordinated action in a whole range of areas including engineering, technology, training, communication, regulation and its enforcement.
- To develop integrated initiatives to encourage stakeholders to introduce sensible speed policies and modern technologies to give better driver information.
- To identify and promote local successful speed reduction initiatives and policies, then campaign to have them adopted nationally.
A Greater Public Understanding of the Effects of Alcohol and Drugs
To support the Department for Transport and the Home Office in getting alcohol and drugs-related deaths and injuries back on the downward track, RoadSafe will:
- Encourage and support the police and other drug agencies to quantify the problem and develop counter measures.
- Promote a much greater level of public understanding of the effects of both prescribed and illegal drugs.
- Work with the Portman Group and other agencies to gain a better understanding of the lasting effects of alcohol absorption rates and the ‘morning after effect’.
Safer Roads
To highlight the success of advanced safety measures now being engineered into the road infrastructure on previously designated high-risk roads and encourage the adoption of such features on all roads, RoadSafe will:
- Support and promote EuroRAP.
- Promote the adoption of engineering features which provide drivers with additional support.
- Raise awareness of the cost benefits of road engineering benefits at accident hot spots.
- Support and promote the work of expert engineers and roads police in this area.
Operations
RoadSafe is a knowledge transfer facilitator designed to demonstrate a commitment by our sponsors and partners to road safety and to involve themselves with professionals by working together to provide a safer road environment. Our core activity will demonstrate this commitment. Our reputation rests on having good communication, with the road safety community and other key stakeholders is essential to RoadSafe. Resources will therefore be concentrated on:
- Representation
- Developing the web site
- RoadSafe magazine
- A twice monthly RoadSafe News
- Organising regular expert meetings
- Developing a series of events and conferences in association with partners to promote improved road safety at work.
- Developing a sound relationship with the media
- Through active participation in public road safety events
- Through private influence.
Delivery
Management, Policy and Representation
The core business activity will be managed directly by the director reporting to the board. The Road Safety Advisory Board will assist in the development of policy and in the representational task. RoadSafe is represented on the ministerial Road Safety Advisory Panel and works closely with a number of central and local government organisations to promote its key objectives.
Projects and Publicity
The time is now right to increase the number of events organised by RoadSafe. Whenever possible events will be organised in association with partners. This will provide for income generating opportunities to be managed as part of a knowledge management programme the magazine (see below), the website and the regular e-news messaging. The web site will be developed further to act as a resource for road safety professionals.
Driving for Better Business Programme. The Motorists Forum recommended to the Secretary of State that a systematic programme should be developed to support ‘champions’ - people who have adopted and benefited from good practice in their organisations and who are prepared to give freely of their time and effort- to spread the word to their business peers, by speaking at business networking events and generally reaching out to other organisations with a significant workplace driving activity. RoadSafe has now been appointed by DfT to deliver this programme with grant aid funding. The largest slice of RoadSafe resources will be allocated to this programme. Staff resources include two FT and one PT.
The Web Site www.roadsafe.com launched in 2000 is now regularly visited and provides an essential tool for communication with interested parties. It is updated weekly with news releases and will be developed further to provide links with sponsor sites and other road safety information sources. Further development of the site to become a ‘portal’ for road safety information will include the addition of a ‘best practice guide’ area and the inclusion of interactive features. Forming network partnerships with other sites will also be pursued.
The RoadSafe Magazine. A new RoadSafe Magazine is to be launched in April 2007 in association with Swordfish Publishing this will have a new format but with the same market – business leaders. The magazine will continue to focus on occupational road safety. It will form a key element of the Business Champions outreach programme.
RoadSafe News. The circulation of our regular e-bulletin RoadSafe News steadily increased during 2005; there are currently 6,230 subscribers and some 50 to 60 new registrations occur each week. This newsletter is seen as a valuable resource by a wide range of practitioners. It will be issued twice monthly.
Expert Meetings. RoadSafe is able to assemble a large number of experts in a wide range of safety areas. Most of these experts are keen to invest their time in meeting others in their field and to share their knowledge. A number of highly successful ‘expert’ meetings have been held and it is planned to organise three each year, each on current key topics. Such meetings stimulate discussion and assist in the development of thinking. These events bring the experts in a particular field of road safety together with sponsors and other professionals to explore new solutions.
Developing Relationships with the Media. A regular programme of media briefings, broadcast opportunities and one-to-one meetings supported by media releases, commenting on road safety news or events and emphasising what is currently being done by sponsors will remain a regular element of the business. To facilitate this, RoadSafe has developed limited media partnerships. We will also lead four campaigns each year in partnership with the auto industry.
Conferences and Road Safety Events. RoadSafe makes good use of speaking opportunities, support and sponsorship at conferences organised by RoSPA, PACTS, TRL, LARSOA, IRSO and other bodies. RoadSafe is now well represented at most major road safety conferences. Additionally RoadSafe arranges two expert meetings or debates a year on topical issues.
In partnership with commercial organisations we will also support four local events each year to promote road safety at work.
This highly successful awards programme underpins our prime purpose - to encourage and promote improved education, innovation, and new thinking. The scheme will be developed further both internationally and within the UK itself. It will be managed by a sub committee of the board and judging will be simplified to allow for smaller panels each with a limited remit eg: Technology, Education, and Fleet Safety.
The Technology Award judging panel will consist of five technical journalists with technical experts from TRL, the automotive industry and other appropriate areas.
The Fleet Service award judging panel will consist of experts in the field.
The scheme is managed by one PT staff member.
International Support
There is a need to promote good practice among decision makers and road safety experts in the developing world. RoadSafe is working with The Department for International Development, to champion road safety as a member of theGlobal Transport Knowledge partnership (gTKP).
Sponsors
RoadSafe is the first port of call for sponsors for advice and guidance on road safety issues. Although all sponsors believe that it is important to demonstrate a commitment to road safety, it is essential that their commitment is maintained by communicating the value and relevance of RoadSafe. It is therefore essential that our aims, objectives and plans are understood and supported by the key stakeholders. This will be achieved through regular communication activity including:
- The Monthly RoadSafe News which has been re-structured to place more emphasis on core activity and to promote sponsors’ involvement in safety initiatives.
- The development of our website to link with key stakeholders’ safety initiatives.
- A quarterly Sponsor Newsletter outlining activity and the circulation of the minutes of Board and Advisory Board minutes to all sponsors.
- Regular Updates for the SMMT sponsors through the SMMT Public Affairs Committee.
The utilisation of sponsors’ internal communication channels is important in building credibility – e.g. internal staff / customer magazines with pre-written ‘kits’ (pictures, stories, copy etc) on specific issues.
Furthermore it is essential that contact with all key stakeholders is maintained through:
- The Annual Report.
- Regular meetings with sponsors and a regular telephone round-up with sponsor’s communications teams to identify stories about them and also through the involvement of all sponsors in hosting and supporting events including Awards presentations.
- Placing articles with in-house journals.
Developing the Financial Base
RoadSafe provides a unique opportunity for its sponsors to demonstrate commitment to road safety; above all it also provides an opportunity for them to engage with key influencers in this field and to become actively involved in a holistic approach to casualty reduction.
Underpinning the business is the need to work closely with our sponsors and to develop additional partners. Opportunities are continually sought to develop further sponsors with emphasis on professional highways engineering, component manufacturers, the tyre industry, fuel companies and consumer businesses.
Three new sources of income have been identified:
- RoadSafe provides the secretariat for the Fleet Safety Association. This includes support and promotion with the provision of a part time secretary and the use of the magazine to promote the services of the members.
- DfT Grant aid funding for the Driving for Better Business programme.
- The annual Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards ceremony now has a major sponsor – Speed Check Services and the development of the international scheme is supported by the FIA Foundation.
