Road Danger Reduction and Enforcement

Dr Robert Davis Chair, Road Danger Reduction Forum

www.rdrf.org.uk

Road Danger Reduction and Enforcement: How policing can support

walking and cycling in London

1st November 2014

What is Road Danger Reduction?(1)

The Road Danger Reduction Charter (1993)

www.rdrf.org.uk

• Reduce danger at source

• Support the sustainable transport agenda

What is Road Danger Reduction? (2)

“Safe Roads for All” – the real road safety movement

• Supported by 20 LAs (1997)

• Supported by RoadPeace, CTC, LCC, 20s Plenty,THSG, ETA

What is Road Danger Reduction? (3)

• J.S. Dean: “Murder Most Foul”

• John Adams: “Risk and Freedom”/ “Risk”

• Robert Davis: “Death on the Streets: Cars and the mythology of road safety”

• David Engwicht: “Mental Speed Bumps”

• CABE: “What are we scared of”

• Hans Monderman, Gerard Wilde etc.

Is this real road safety? Commission for Global Road Safety

The “vulnerable road user”

“Every man I meet

wants to protect me.

I can’t figure out

what from”.

Mae West

“I think that my colleague Mike referred earlier on to the rate per 100,000 of the population, in terms of cycle deaths, and we actually come above the Netherlands. We’ve got a better record on that”

.• Road Safety Analysis

@mastonline Jul 1

Suppression of active modes of travel is the main reason that GB has, until recently, maintained its world leading status on safety. @PACTS

What does RDRF say? (1)

• There is a Hierarchy of Danger.

• We are concerned with Who Kills/Hurts Whom. (“Dangerous” forms of transport endanger others on the road). Moral and scientific issues.

• Aggregate RTA casualties is NOT a proper measure of safety on the road.

What does RDRF say? (2)

Everybody adapts to perceived danger (Risk Compensation)

BAD consequences, e.g.:

• Better protected drivers driving worse (idiot proofing producing idiots)

• Parents restricting children’s mobility because of road danger

“If I had wanted to make a safe car, I would have put nails in the

dashboard”Alec Issigonis and the Mini

Bad effects (if you are outside cars)• “Antilock brake systems (ABS) have close to

a zero net effect on fatal crash involvements.” US Department of Transport (2009)______________________________

• Seat belts: “The picture shows a clear reduction in death and injury to car occupants, appreciably offset by extra deaths among pedestrians and cyclists” (R. Gifford, Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety,2009)

Knocking down roadside trees is “like putting insulating wire on electric cable”: stumps should also be removed “as these can still be aggressive”; fences are “a particularly aggressive form of man-made structure” (Traffic Engineering and Control , October 1992)

What does RDRF say? (3)

But there can be GOOD consequences, e.g:

• Cyclists greater numbers can lead to reduced casualty rates (SiN, Critical Mass)

• Motorists more aware of pedestrians in Shared Space

London: December 2010

Sweden September 1967

What does RDRF say? (4)

Declines in RTA fatalities may occur irrespective of “road safety” interventions (Smeed curve, Adams curve)

SOCIAL LEARNING

What does RDRF say?(5)

Much of “road safety” is part of the problem of danger on the road

What does RDRF say?(6)

The “road safety” industry has a history of:

1. Failing to address the problem of danger at source

2. Exacerbating danger at source

3. Victim blaming

4. Confusion through pseudo-scientific discourse

What does RDRF call for? (1)

• Support the road danger reduction measures of road safety strategies as part of cultural change away from car culture, e.g.:

• Slower speeds/ Law enforcement and deterrent sentencing, black boxes/ etc.

• Accountability – driver liability?

What does RDRF call for? (2)In place of costing “casualty savings”, calculations should include health benefits from active travel etc., etc., etc…

More people die from other problems associated with the current road transport system than from “RTAs”.(Inactivity / Noxious emissions / GG emissions / Noise pollution / Costs of road and car-based infrastructure / Community severance/ Exacerbated health inequalities ….)

What does RDRF call for? (3)

THINK RDR1. Always remember risk compensation

(adaptive behaviour), both short and long term.

2. Always remember the balance of power.

What does RDRF call for? (4)

…and: speak English, not “roadsafetyese”

Enforcement: What does RDRF call for ? (1)

Enforcement prioritised for behaviours

endangering others

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/elephant-and-castle-crash-driver-has-miracle-escape-after-bmw-plunges-into-subway-9636671.html

Enforcement: What does RDRF call for ? (2)

• Extreme behaviours can be targeted: Unregistered / Drink and drug driving / extreme speed / blind and other impairment: Popular but can be “lightning conductors”.

• Biggest problem is normal rule/law breaking.

Enforcement: What does RDRF call for ? (3)

Part of stigmatising behaviours which endanger others

Enforcement: What does RDRF call for ? (4)

Ending discrimination as part of an Equal

Opportunities type of approach by MPS