IF THERE ARE 5-STAR SAFE CARS, WHY CAN'T THERE BE 5-STAR SAFE MUNICIPALITIES?
Jaakko Klang
Traffic Safety Engineer, accident investigator, member of and Nordic Road Association
The municipality is a very important player in road safety as its services reach all citizens, from babies to the elderly. Municipalities are responsible for education, health care, social services, and the transport environment - in other words, almost every aspect of people's daily lives. Municipal road safety work has the potential to influence the road safety of all citizens because municipal services reach everyone and municipal staff interact with all citizens.
If the road safety work of the municipality is poorly organised and poorly managed, the best results cannot be achieved in road safety work, i.e. designing the transport system in such a way that no one has to die or be seriously injured on the roads. Municipal resources for road safety work are underutilised, and road accidents are not reduced effectively and systematically.
1.???? FIVE STAR ROAD SAFETY MUNICIPALITY
We have developed a Five Star Road Safety Municipality approach to work with municipalities to develop their road safety work towards the highest level of performance - five stars in the performance assessment. It has taken three years (2018–2020) to create the system and it has now been tested in practice in the road safety work of municipalities in our region for three years (2021–2023). The results seem excellent. The level of performance of the road safety work of the municipalities has improved significantly. In those municipalities where the results of the survey show a low level of road safety work, we have hired a road safety coordinator to ensure the development and implementation of the system.
The road safety work of the municipalities in our region has been significantly activated and almost all municipalities have a functioning road safety group covering all municipal administrations, which meets at least twice a year. In addition, representatives from the police, the rescue services, the road safety association and the regional administration are also involved in the road safety groups. Many municipalities also have representatives from youth councils, councils for the elderly, political parties and driving schools. In all municipalities (39 municipalities), the average score of the survey has increased from 2.1 to 2.9, i.e. from two to three stars. Seven municipalities achieved four stars in the 2021 survey.
1.1 Objectives of the work
To activate, coordinate and develop the municipality's road safety work so that the municipality's road safety work is active and the number of fatal accidents is below the national average in relation to the number of inhabitants. Road safety plan of the ELY Centre of Southwest Finland: https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/188384
1.???? Continuous improvement of the road safety situation in the region towards national and international targets.
2.???? Raising the level of road safety work in the municipalities of the region towards the 5-star road safety municipality level 4-5.
The most significant part of the work should be devoted to activating the municipality's road safety work, especially to improve the weaker areas identified by the assessment and to support the activities. The task will include mapping the level of road safety work in the municipality by means of a questionnaire in accordance with the operational model at the start of the work and monitoring progress by means of a similar questionnaire every year.
1.2 Reducing road accidents
The impact of an activity on reducing road accidents cannot be measured separately from accident statistics, because everything affects everything. The regional reduction in road accidents involving personal injury during the period of operation of the scheme has been around 4 %. Everyone is responsible for road safety. The Five Star Road Safety Municipality approach involves all actors and provides the tools for systematic and result-oriented implementation of road safety work.
?2. MUNICIPAL ROAD SAFETY WORK
?The work will be based on the collection of data and previous plans on the current state of the planning area and the development of road safety. The current situation and the implementation of previous plans will be reported in a concise overview of the implementation of road safety work and the achievement of objectives. What was successful - what was not and why.
2.1 Road safety plan
The Road Safety Plan is a good tool for guiding and coordinating road safety work in the municipality. The national target is that every municipality should have an up-to-date road safety plan or equivalent documentation. A road safety plan is a description of concrete objectives, measures and procedures to improve road safety in the municipality and for the residents of the municipality (Source: Handbook on Municipal Road Safety Work, Association of Municipalities 2016).
The plan should be updated annually in accordance with the implementation of the measures and modified so that it serves the municipality's road safety work in the best possible way and acts as a tool to guide the work.
2.2 Five-star road safety survey
Five Star Municipality survey at the start of the work:
3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ROAD SAFETY WORK
3.1 Road Safety Group
The municipality should invest in a road safety group. The road safety group can also be replaced by another group dealing with road safety issues. Local road safety work is planned and coordinated by the municipal road safety group. The activities of the group should be regular and continuous. The road safety group is a good channel for cooperation between different administrations and stakeholders. Representatives from the police, the Road Safety Agency, the ELY Centre and a wide range of municipal authorities can participate in the group's meetings.
The development of the road safety situation in the municipality should be reviewed e.g. once a year at a meeting of the road safety group and the situation should be reported to the committees and the municipal council. The information provided in the road safety plan can be used as a starting point.
3.2 Improving the transport environment and accessibility
The identification and prioritisation of measures to improve the transport environment is guided by the problems highlighted by the current situation mapping and the priorities described in the target phase, but also by the transport planning principles defined for the municipality or region during the planning process. Measures are planned for the short (1-2 years), medium (3-5 years) and long (5-10 years) term. In order to maintain a steady flow of road safety work, it is important to focus on concrete and easily implementable short-term measures. Success in these measures will also motivate those involved in road safety work and give the work positive publicity (Source: Handbook on municipal road safety work, Association of Local Authorities 2016).
领英推荐
3.3 Procurement of transport services
All municipalities have certain statutory passenger transport obligations, such as transport under the Basic Education Act and the Disability Services Act. These are often organised by the municipalities' education and social and health services. Other transport services commissioned by municipalities must also take road safety issues into account already at the tender stage (for example, when organising excursions) (Source: Handbook for municipal road safety work, Association of Local Authorities 2016).
3.4 Road safety information
The municipality informs its residents in the municipality about plans, the traffic accident situation, changed traffic arrangements, opportunities for participation, solutions adopted and their effects. The aim is to influence the behaviour, choices and attitudes of local residents with regard to transport. This is often done through municipal websites and newsletters, social media and local newspapers. Local stakeholders may be approached by e-mail. For internal communication, the target groups are municipal employees and municipal councillors. The aim is to raise the profile of road safety work and road safety awareness by providing information on current road safety topics, new guidelines and other materials that can be used in the work, and to encourage sustainable and safe travel choices when commuting. The information is easy and cost-effective. (Source: Handbook for municipal road safety work, Association of Local Authorities 2016).
3.5 Road safety measures for municipal staff
Road safety plans often include measures for municipal staff (wearing seat belts, using reflectors, wearing cycle helmets, sober driving, speed limits, staff training, teacher training, etc.). These measures should be put into practice. If no measures have been drawn up, an action plan for municipal staff can be drawn up separately.
4. REPORTING AND MONITORING ROAD SAFETY WORK
The implementation of the road safety plan should be monitored regularly, which supports the continuity of road safety work in the municipality. Monitoring may include the preparation of an annual action plan, an activity report or a follow-up report. These should be communicated to residents, municipal officials and decision-makers. Monitoring need not be limited to the content of the plan, but it is important to assess whether there have been or are likely to be changes in the environment that should be taken into account in road safety work. Discussions should be held between those involved in road safety work to find out what experience has been gained and whether the work feels necessary and effective. The motivation and enthusiasm of those involved in road safety work is a prerequisite for good performance (Source: Handbook on municipal road safety work, Association of Municipalities 2016).
?
Monitoring the road safety situation is mainly the responsibility of the municipal technical services. The development of the road safety situation in the municipality should be reviewed, for example once a year, at a meeting of the road safety group. As a starting point, the data presented in the road safety plan can be used.
5. FOLLOW-UP AND DEVELOPMENT
Coordination work focuses on strengthening the weak areas of the municipality's road safety work and ensuring continuity. In particular, the following issues will be addressed and resolved in the activities and the choice of measures to be taken during the work:
Stakeholders are involved in the regional road safety group and give their views on the progress of the work at the regional meetings. The work programme and the final report of the coordination work are approved by the representatives of the municipality and the ELY Centre.
Links to useful resources
Traffic safety plan of the ELY Centre of Southwest Finland
Evaluation of municipal road safety work - Towards a five-star road safety municipality
Handbook for municipal road safety work
Liikenneturva www-pages Municipal road safety work
Traffic accidents in Southwest Finland and Satakunta in the map application:
Rescue department: https://mobilityanalytics.ramboll.com/onn/pelastuslaitos/
Deer accidents: https://mobilityanalytics.ramboll.com/onn/hirvielain/