Safe Road Users

Road Safety Good Practices

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Overview

The Decade of Action for Road Safety calls on governments worldwide to enhance road safety through comprehensive action plans. These plans revolve around five key pillars:

  1. Better road safety management
  2. Safe Roads
  3. Safer vehicles
  4. Safer road user behavior
  5. Better post-crash response

Pillar 4 focuses on improving road user behavior, addressing issues like speeding, not using seat belts and helmets, fatigue, and drunk driving. To make our roads safer, we need to enforce traffic laws consistently and raise public awareness through education and campaigns. Here are some effective practices and guidelines for promoting safer road user behavior:

Drinking and Driving

The WHO's manual, "Drinking and Driving: A Road Safety Manual for Decision-Makers and Practitioners" (2007), offers practical steps for reducing drunk driving. This manual is part of a series aimed at helping policymakers and practitioners enhance road safety with simple, cost-effective solutions.

Key Steps:

  1. Understand the problem: Assess the drinking and driving situation in your country.
  2. Plan a program: Set up a working group and develop a comprehensive plan.
  3. Implement the program: Introduce laws, enforce them, and run public education campaigns.
  4. Evaluate results: Continuously monitor the program and make improvements.

Helmets

The WHO's "Helmets: A Road Safety Manual for Decision-Makers and Practitioners" (2007) provides a blueprint for increasing helmet use, crucial for reducing injuries among motorcyclists and cyclists.

Key Steps:

  1. Assess the situation: Understand the current state of helmet use
  2. Develop a plan: Create a working group and an action plan.
  3. Implement the program: Enforce helmet laws, set production standards, and run marketing campaigns.
  4. Educate: Teach children and young people about the importance of helmet use.
  5. Evaluate and improve: Monitor the program and adjust as needed

Speed Management

Speeding significantly increases the risk and severity of accidents. The WHO's "Speed Management: A Road Safety Manual for Decision-Makers and Practitioners" (2008) guides you through creating effective speed management programs.

Key Steps:

  1. Assess the situation: Gather data on speeding issues in your area
  2. Plan and implement: Develop an action plan, secure funding, and, if necessary, introduce new laws.
  3. Use engineering and enforcement: Implement speed-reducing measures like road design changes and increased policing.
  4. Educate: Run campaigns to change attitudes towards speeding
  5. Evaluate: Monitor the program’s effectiveness and make adjustments.

Road Safety Campaigns

Running a successful road safety campaign involves careful planning, execution, and evaluation. It’s crucial to coordinate with police and other stakeholders. For example, Ghana’s fatigue campaign offers a methodology that can be adapted for various issues.

Road Safety Education for Children:

  1. Promote knowledge of traffic rules and situations
  2. Improve skills through practical training and experience.
  3. Foster a positive attitude towards road safety and awareness of risks.

By educating children and shaping their behavior early, we can instill lifelong habits that promote road safety.

Number of Pages

146