Tool kit

Legislation provides the framework for road safety. It establishes the safety performance parameters for the road network, vehicle design, the rules of the road and the provision of emergency medical care. Legislation is introduced at European Union and national levels as an appropriate response to:

• Reduce societal cost
• Address public concern about road safety
• Protect the most vulnerable in society
• Address the absence of effective voluntary action by either system providers or users

Best practice guidelines are a recognised means of assisting professionals at national, local and regional level involved in the specification and implementation of road safety measures. They comprise a synthesis of universal road safety principles in specific areas, advice on the general means of applying them and illustrative case studies [31, 10].

Economic incentives also play a key role whether exempting safety equipment from valued added tax; ring-fencing grants to local and regional government to be used for specific road safety activity; or lowering insurance premiums in return for specified safety choices.

Consumer information to stimulate demand for road safety products and to encourage manufacturers to enhance safety design has been used to increasing effect since the late 1990s. While legislative standards are needed to deliver an acceptable level of safety across whole product lines, consumer information, such as that provided by the

European New Car Assessment Programme provides objective data on the crash performance of new cars and has led to significant progress in car occupant safety [17].

In-house road safety policies provide governments with an opportunity to lead by example. The Swedish National Road Administration (SNRA) has adopted a travel policy with various safety requirements on the use or hire of vehicles for work purposes [21]. The WHO has called on the health sector to help create demand for safe transport products and services and to stimulate partners within and outside the health sector to ensure that all employee duty travel is carried out safely [48]. Contracts can also be used to place demands for safer transport services to Government. The SNRA has, for example, stipulated that the award of road transport contracts is conditional on the fitting of alcohol interlock devices in all vehicles used by its contractors [37].

Demonstration projects: Countries demonstrating best practice road safety performance have shaped their road safety programmes over years of implementation and evaluation of results achieved and by a long process of learning by doing. Well-designed pilot projects have proved to be an indispensable tool to secure further support for strategies such as Dutch Sustainable Safety or urban safety management work in the UK [32].

Structural barriers to implementation include public acceptance and political and industrial views on the nature of safety problems and solutions. Vociferous minorities perceiving state interference with civil liberties have played a part in delaying or preventing major road injury prevention policies despite, public opinion surveys showing a high level of support for interventions. Opposition can also come from approaches which undermine health at the expense of economic considerations, where legislating in a high level of protection into products or operations may be seen as red tape or a barrier to trade, irrespective of the socio-economic benefit to be derived. Thirdly, vested commercial interests have large influence. Experience has shown that it is often possible to overcome such barriers with strong professional championing and leadership [6].

Research evidence on a wide range of instruments are discussed in details in the Road Safety Handbook [14].