[SystemSafety] Safety of vulnerable road users: UK

[Drew Rae]

Peter,
Much as I applaud the campaign, the statistics are a little …. ah …. let me just quote the original press release:

[4] 'Hands up' survey of 4,787 primary school children (aged 7-11) from schools across the UK participating in Brake's Giant Walking Bus, carried out between January and May 2014. When asked 'do you think roads in your neighbourhood can be dangerous for kids who are walking or cycling?', 67% said yes, 33% said no. When asked 'have you ever been hit or nearly hit by a vehicle while walking or cycling?', 41% said yes, 59% said no.

Why conduct epidemiological safety research when you can get just as good press coverage by asking kids to stick their hands in the air?

On the other hand working with social/peer expectations and norms can be an effective strategy for driver behaviour. It's the basis of the Queensland "If you drink and drive you're a bloody idiot" campaign, as 
well as some more thoroughly evaluated fleet driver interventions. 

Drew

* This message is from my work email
* I can also be contacted on andrew at ajrae.com
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* My safety podcast is DisasterCast.co.uk



On 17/11/2014, at 4:35 PM, Peter Bernard Ladkin wrote:

> A report in The Guardian this morning
> [begin quote]
> 41% of primary pupils hit or nearly hit by cars
> More than two in five primary schoolchildren say they have been hit or nearly hit by a vehicle while on foot or on a bike, according to a survey by the road safety charity Brake released for Road Safety Week. Two-thirds of the 4,787 pupils aged seven to 11 who were polled thought roads in their community could be dangerous for walking and cycling, and 41% said they had been struck by a vehicle or had a near miss.
> Brake highlighted figures showing that motorists are picking up fines for speeding and careless driving at a rate of almost two a minute.
> A total of 950,505 fixed-penalty notices were issued for speeding last year, and a further 17,483 were issued for careless driving. Brake is launching a campaign calling on road users to look out for each other to help cut the rate of five deaths and 61 serious injuries a day on the roads.
> The charity’s deputy chief executive, Julie Townsend, said: “When drivers use roads without care for others, the consequences can be tragic and horrific. That’s why we’re asking all road users to look out for and protect each other.”
> PA
> 
> [end quote]
> 
> PBL
> 
> Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, University of Bielefeld and Causalis Limited
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