Road Safety Scotland develops and co-ordinates national road safety education and publicity initiatives. It is funded by the Scottish Government and in 2006/2007 its annual budget was £1.30 million with a further £594,000 spent on publicity campaigns, funded by the Scottish Government Communications Directorate.
Road Safety Scotland operates via a number of committees. These committees draw their membership from all Local Authorities & Police Forces in Scotland as well as from national bodies with a road safety involvement such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, NHS Health Scotland and Institute of Road Safety Officers Scotland.
Among the educational resources and publicity campaigns that have been developed are the following:
Based on research and evaluations of previous campaigns, 'Don't risk it' is now used as an umbrella brand for all publicity campaigns. RSS works closely with ACPOS (the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland) and TIC (Tyre Industry Council) and links to many of the campaigns. The main areas of focus are:
The Foolsspeed campaign was aimed at reducing the speed at which people drive. It also educated drivers about the concept of an appropriate speed for the road environment and conditions. Research on the effectiveness of the campaign would be published soon.
The risks of drinking and driving are highlighted via a number of mediums. The 'Reality Bites' television advert, first aired in 2006, was nominated for a Scottish Advertising Award. The 'Morning After' campaign was intended to raise awareness in drivers about consuming alcohol and still being over the legal limit for driving the next day.
Campaigns on both recreational drugs and ordinary medicines have been run in association with the Police and with pharmacists respectively. RSS is currently working with the Know The Score team at the Scottish Executive to forge plans for the future.
This is a long term campaign, with the message of the first phase being that rural roads are very often not as safe as you may think they might be.
Research shows that, increasingly, young drivers are likely to be involved in road traffic accidents. In response to this trend, all of the above campaigns are targeted with a particular bias towards young drivers. The website www.getinlane.com provides information and advice on all issues relevant to learner and newly qualified drivers.
RSS is a key partner in the Scottish In-Car Child Safety Initiative. This is an ongoing campaign aimed at improving the safety of all children in vehicles. A major element of this is the provision of advice and information on the correct fitting of child car seats.
Its aim is to help reduce the large number of children aged under 5 who are injured on Scotland’s roads every year. Additional resources have been developed for childminders and nurseries and playgroups.
On The Road is an adult literacy resource targeted at drivers.
www.roadsafetyscotland.org.uk is constantly updated and extended. The site includes downloadable educational resources and publicity materials. In addition to the corporate site is www.getinlane.com, a website for young drivers and www.jrso.com for Junior Road Safety Officers. There is also the fun site www.streetwiseguys.co.uk.
RSS has commissioned extensive research into various aspects of road safety. This research has helped inform much of RSS's work.