Go Safe on Scotland's Roads: road safety framework to 2020

Chapter One
Introduction

Road safety is an issue that affects everyone in Scotland. We all need to use the roads to get around - to school, to work, to the doctor, to the shops, to the cinema. Most of us use the roads every day, as drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians, and for many people driving is the main part of their job. It is essential, therefore, to ensure that, as far as possible, we can all use the roads in safety.

1.1 Background

The Scottish Government and road safety partners are committed to the outcome of safer road travel in Scotland for everyone. To this end this document sets out the Framework for improving road safety in Scotland over the next decade. It describes the road safety vision for Scotland, aims and commitments, and the Scottish targets for reductions in road deaths and serious injuries to 2020.

The target audience is not only the road safety community but also the public as road users, employers, teachers, parents, relevant organisations and all others who have a role to play in road safety. With this in mind we have sought to make this both a forward looking document with commitments to further decrease casualties on the roads, and a transparent and practical guide to current laws, guidance and information concerning road safety.

A Panel of Road Safety Experts was set up to advise on measures that will contribute to reducing the tragic and wasteful toll of death and injury on the roads in Scotland. In addition, a public consultation was carried out to seek views on what the Framework should include. All of these contributions have been considered, alongside evidence gained through statistics and research, in formulating this Framework, which is also illustrated throughout with quotes from the public consultation and examples of road safety initiatives from Scotland and beyond.

This document firmly sets out the ambitions for a 'Safer Scotland' on the roads. These ambitions will not, however, be realised without the help of delivery partners, communities and road users themselves.

1.2 Structure of Document

Chapter Two sets out our vision for road safety in Scotland, numerical targets, a description of the benefits of achieving the targets, and the general approach, including links to the National Performance Framework and the National Transport Strategy. Chapter Three provides a brief review of the main organisations involved in road safety in Scotland, and Chapter Four highlights the critical role of evidence in defining the problems and helping to understand the solutions.

Scottish road safety priorities, issues and commitments are set out in Chapters Five to Nine. The chapters are:

• Working Together for Safer Roads ( Chapter Five): discussing how the road safety community and other relevant organisations can, and in many instances already do, join together to help make Scotland's roads safer.
• Being Responsible on the Roads ( Chapter Six): identifying the most vulnerable road users, and reinforcing the message that we all must assume greater responsibility for our own and other people's road safety.
• Driving for Life ( Chapter Seven): detailing the key points in the life cycle of most drivers.
• Reducing Risk on the Roads ( Chapter Eight): addressing the main areas of road risk.
• Designing for Human Error on the Roads ( Chapter Nine): highlighting the part that vehicle technologies and road design can make to road safety.

In Chapter Ten, the commitments are brought together in tables referring to each Section and broken down into delivery timescales of short term (one to two years), medium term (two to five years) and long term (five to ten years).

The commitments largely fall within the traditional pillars of the road safety three Es - Education, Enforcement and Engineering. Two additional Es - Encouragement and Evaluation - bring in the possibility of Encouraging (or incentivising) good road safety, for instance, in partnership with the private sector and Evaluation, in recognition of the need - as expressed in the consultation exercise - for sound Evaluation to ensure that actions taken are effective in helping to reduce road deaths and serious injuries.