Focused campaigns 'good value'
Investment in highly focused local road safety education campaigns that are based on reliable information about specific area problems as well as effective enforcement of road traffic law will represent good value for taxpayers' money...
That is one of the major conclusions in a report by the Audit Commission called Changing Lanes, which calculates that road crashes cost the NHS £470 million and the economy £8 billion a year.
The report highlights a series of case studies that reveal how some councils have proved it is possible to reduce the number of road accidents by focusing on behavioural change among road users.
Steve Bundred, chief executive of the Audit Commission, said: "Just like drinking and driving, using a mobile phone at the wheel or speeding near schools should be socially unacceptable. It is clear that many accidents are avoidable. Councils have shown that as well as targeting accident blackspots with safety cameras and better engineering, it is also possible to change the attitude and behaviour of road users that cause accidents."
The report recommends that:
- Councils should raise awareness of road safety issues among secondary school pupils and of the resources available to schools
- Police forces should improve the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of road collision data
- NHS bodies should provide anonymised data about accident victims to highway authorities so they can target their activities more effectively on the people most at risk, and on where they live and work and play; and
- Central government should develop a system so that knowledge from research into road safety is available locally and easier to access.