Source of photo : GRSP Hungary
PP ITS and ALOT
Authors, Kathleen Elsig (GRSP), Chris Lines (GRSP)
Date, April 2011
Contact Data:
Kathleen.elsig@frc.org chris.lines55@virgin.net

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Purpose of this document .........................................................................................2
Introduction to the situational assessment .............................................................2
2.1
Using the SOL website for data analysis and storage ......................................2
Why collect road crash and road crash injury data? ..............................................3
Objectives of each assessment ................................................................................6
4.1
Road safety assessment...................................................................................6
4.2
Institutional capacity review ..............................................................................6
4.3
Public knowledge and opinion survey ...............................................................6
4.4
Stakeholder assessment and map....................................................................6
Approaches to undertaking the situational assessment ........................................7
5.1 Working with the SOL multistakeholder team ...................................................7
5.2 Establishing a data management team.............................................................8
5.3 Challenges to data collection ...........................................................................9
5.4 Road safety assessment..................................................................................9
capacity
5.6. Public knowledge and opinion survey .............................................................13
6.
5.7Stakeholder assessment and map ........................................................................13
The SOL situational assessment reports ...............................................................13
6.1
Data validation and analysis .............................................................................14
6.1.1
Validating the data ........................................................................................14
6.1.2
Analysing the data.........................................................................................15
6.1.3
Interpreting the data ......................................................................................17
6.2
Completing the SOL community situational assessment report .......................19
6.3
Generating consensus on the report conclusions.............................................19
ANNEX 1 road safety data .....................................................................................................20
ANNEX 2 instititutional capacity review..................................................................................30
ANNEX 3 Public knowledge and opinion survey on road safety and travel preference .........32
ANNEX 4 Stakeholder assessment and stakeholder map .....................................................35
ANNEX 5 Table of Contents for SOL community situational assessment report ...................38
ANNEX 6 Example situational assessment time plan ...............................................................

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
This purpose of this document is to provide guidance to the SOL partners and communities in undertaking the SOL situational assessment and drafting the SOL situational assessment report.
SOL aims to prevent road crash deaths and injuries and increase sustainable mobility in the participating SOL communities in Central Europe by supporting the development of targeted strategies, up-skilling road safety professionals, implementing effective road safety interventions and building a transnational road safety network.
The SOL situational assessment surveys and the data they provide, are central to the delivery of these activities. Thus, this document aims to provide the SOL partners with an introduction to the four assessments, which make up the SOL situational assessment, and the SOL community situational assessment report and outline possible approaches to completing each of these.
Countries participating in the project include Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Hungary, Germany, Austria and Italy.
One of the tasks within SOL is to carry out an assessment of the road safety situation in their specific geographical area, with the use of specially designed survey tools including a road safety assessment, institutional capacity assessment, public opinion survey and stakeholder analysis.
The data collected as part of the situational assessment will be used for 3 main reasons:

To inform the development of the local road safety strategy - to ensure it is soundlybased and identifies the main issues.

To ensure the Action Plan is targeted, gives value for money and is achievable.

To be the baseline for future monitoring and assessment of the interventions in the community.
The SOL situational assessment website has been created to support the SOL situational assessment ( www.its.waw.pl/sol ) The website has 2 main components
1. Background information on each of the category themes
2. Survey tools (tables and questionnaires)

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
You will see listed among the blue headings of the website the four categories of the assessment:
· Road safety assessment
· Public opinion and knowledge
· Stakeholder map
1. Background information on each of the category themes
Before starting the assessment, please read through the background information and then review the survey tools. The background information will provide you with information about topic. This background information is also included in the annexes of this document.
2. Survey tools (tables and questionnaires)
Under this section you will find the four (4) survey tables and questionnaires. The survey tools have been designed so that the SOL country partner and community teams can input the information directly into the website data base for the surveys.
The saved data can be printed and used as part of the SOL community situational assessment report.
The public opinion survey will be analyzed separately due to the number of surveys conducted.
Afterwards please complete the surveys. After completing each table please remember to click “save” in order to save your answers.
Road traffic crashes and injuries are complex and costly events which require a multisectoral assessment and response. To be effective, road safety efforts must be evidencebased, fully-costed, properly resourced and sustainable.
In many cases, society and the media are unaware of the numbers of people killed and injured on the roads and evidence is the best way of informing the public and raising the awareness and priority of road safety.
Reliable and detailed data are crucial for designing and managing road safety strategies and interventions that will bring about the desired results and deliver value for money in terms of sustainable reductions in road crashes and road crash injury and the accompanying social, economic and political benefits.
Data can help us:

Understand the problem and social and economic burden of road crashes and injury

Make society and the media aware of the scale of the problem and help change attitudes

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports

Plan effective interventions that give value for money in achieving targets

Advocate action and investment in road crash and road crash injury prevention programmes
For planning purposes, data can help us:

understand the scope of the problem, also in comparison to other public health issues

understand crash and injury trends across the road network

identify high risk groups and locations

identify main risk factors (crash and injury)

design effective strategies, interventions, etc, that give value for money

facilitate objective decision-making about resource allocation (time, money)

define and measure targets and outcomes including: o Reduction in direct and indirect costs of crashes and injuries; o Reduction in road traffic crashes and injuries o Increase in adoption of and compliance with safety-promoting measures

monitor and evaluate effectiveness towards achievement of our community’s road safety objectives and targets
For advocacy purposes, data can help us:

illustrate to politicians and the public the magnitude of the problem and burden vs other (competing) social and economic issues

aid politicians to demonstrate the value of potentially unpopular policies (e.g. reduced speed limits) to the public and solidly face down opposition

win public support and generate a demand for safer roads

highlight the success of road safety interventions to the media and the public in terms of reductions in road crashes, deaths and injuries. This success can help generate momentum and arguments for increased investment in road safety.

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
Figure 1: Use of data for designing and monitoring road safety interventions
•
•
Source: Data systems: a road safety manual (WHO, 2010)
What kind of data do we need?
Various types of information are needed to understand the problem of road traffic crashes and the resulting injuries or deaths. These include:
• data on the incidence and types of crashes; a detailed understanding of the circumstances that lead to the crash; knowledge of how injuries are caused and what type of injuries are sustained; and
• the effectiveness of any interventions put in place.
The required data is derived from diverse sources including:
TABLE 1: SOL data needs and areas of SOL assessment
Data needs Covered in the SOL assessment

Police crash data

Hospital and medical data on injuries and fatalities

Demographic data

Transport

Traffic volume data (by traffic mode)

Infrastructure

Insurance data

Safety performance indicators such as rates of safety belt and helmet use, average speeds on different parts of the road network, red light running, BAC
Road safety assessment

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports levels of drivers

Institutional capacity data Institutional capacity assessment

Special Road safety assessment
Public opinion and knowledge survey
Stakeholder map
Greater details on the specific types of data and data needs by specific sectors are provided in Annex 1 – 4.
To strengthen the understanding of the road crash and road crash injury situation in the SOL pilot community. The information is vital for road safety management and advocacy purposes.
These data are vital for developing the local road safety strategy to ensure the priorities identified match the road safety problems. Only by having a deep understanding of the crashes can effective objectives, targets and actions be formulated.
For additional information on road safety data see ANNEX 1
This is required to understand institutional strengths/gaps. This knowledge will allow delivery and managment of a ‘systems’ approach to road safety including multi-stakeholder interventions, and encourage safe and sustainable mobility.
To understand training needs of road safety professionals and community road safety stakeholders
For additional information on institutional capacity see ANNEX 2
To understand public knowledge, opinion about road safety, and to understand travel preferences. The road safety plan and efforts in general by the local government to improve road safety must be acceptable to the local population.
For additional information on the public knowledge and opinion survey see ANNEX 3
To identify stakeholders in the community who o are crucial to the success of SOL in the community o are active in road safety in the community and can participate in the SOL community teams

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports o Can contribute to delivery of the SOL and community road safety objectives
For additional information on the stakeholder assessment and map see ANNEX 4
This section outlines approaches the SOL partners can consider to undertaking the situational assessment.
The data required for the assessment have been defined above in Section 3. In most cases in the SOL communities the data will be available or can be collected with some additional effort including through special surveys such as observational surveys.
In these cases it is still necessary to assess the robustness and reliability of the data and compare to other sources if possible to check that all the data is being collected (unlikely) and where are the major areas that are weak. For example, Police crash records never agree completely with hospital road injury records and some studies have indicated that
Police reporting of cyclist injuries is particularly low. This information is important as without this knowledge there may well be a cyclist injury problem that no one knows exists.
In other areas the data may not exist at all and the SOL Partners will need to undertake themselves, in collaboration with local partners, or commission new studies to collect the data. It is difficult to give general advice about data collection, but generally studies are more successful when the objectives are clear and defined and not too ambitious. Several small focused studies are usually better than one large one. Commissioning studies to professional companies who have experience and a track record is a good option when resources allow.
Where data are missing and there are no obvious local partners or resources for commissioning studies, then SOL Partners can ask advice from the SOL Technical Support
Team – Kathleen Elsig, Chris Lines and Maurizio Tira.
The multistakeholder teams need to be involved in the situational assessment from the very beginning.
Including the SOL multistakeholder team in the situational assessment will help ensure ownership of the process, the conclusions and recommended next steps. Let us please remember that a key objective of SOL is to build capacity and ownership for road safety in the community. Activities must be undertaken in close cooperation “with” the community teams and not “to” them. Taking care to build an active cooperation is crucial, beginning with the situational assessment. This is possibly particularly important with the situational assessment, as there is often a high degree of ownership around data and institutions are sometimes hesitant to share data, especially where this data is not already public.
The members of the SOL community team know the situation in their community very well and several of them have access and may even manage much of the data required for the situational assessment. The teams should be consulted during every step of the situational assessment including –

providing them with an introduction to the situational assessment o this can help generate ownership and willingness to work together on the assessment

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports o consider using the slides from the general situational assessment presentation located on the situational assessment website o showing them the tools on the website

establishing a data manager and data management team with key members of the
SOL community team o see section 5.2 below

involving the SOL community team in the data collection process for all surveys

sharing drafts of the report with the data manager and data management team for review and comment

involving them the SOL community team in planning and presenting at the SOL situational assessment workshop
Data collection and analysis is a huge task. The main objective is to ensure the ‘core’ data elements are collected and are as accurate and comprehensive as possible. These ‘core’ elements are mainly the road safety assessment data, the institutional capacity data, but also extend into the population, travel and public opinion areas, as defined in Section 3. Other supporting data should be collected wherever possible.
One way to ensure the best possible data collection is to form a ‘Data Management Team’ from the SOL community multistakeholder team (and others as necessary). This has proven to give good results in other projects including GRSP’s community road safety approach, the
Proactive Partnership Strategy.
The SOL community team needs to appoint a Data Manager who will ultimately take responsibility for data collection, management and analysis. The Manager then establishes the data management team. The Data Management Team, DMT, is of paramount importance to the SOL team.
The key tasks of the Data Management Team are to:
• review data sources, definitions and data availability that are already in use and identify possible gaps in current data system
• co-ordinate collaboration between organizations to arrive at shared definitions, and a process for recording and sharing the data.
• be responsible for capturing / receiving and storing fatal / serious injury crash data from multiple sources. Eventually, this should happen on a monthly basis. The sources of this data are police, health emergency services, municipality hospitals, private hospitals and the legal medical institute that produces death certificates or its equivalence.
• at the end of every 30 day period, reclassify all crash data (according to the fatality and injury classifications agreed upon) leading towards reliable identification of fatal and serious crashes (FSC).
• identify local major risk factors and high risk groups, related tables /graphs / maps / reports and make these available to the SOL team so they can plan programmes, projects and systems and also continuously review their progress to determine if they are achieving their set targets.

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
However, before data can be collected, managed and analyzed, an important task is to ensure everyone is ‘on the same page’.
Data will not be so reliable if it comes from one source only. The main sources of reliable data in relation to:
• “In situ” information is usually the Police
• fatality and serious injury data from hospital trauma sources (medical treatment data, admission data and sequential treatment data)
• confirmation of deaths comes finally from the Legal Record keeping system
As the Data System continuously improves, additional data will be captured. For example: monitoring safety performance indicators. Also emergency services are important, but others will follow, such as the fire brigade and different types / administrative level of hospitals.
Collecting data across sectors is an enormous challenge, so it is important to establish early any potential barriers to obtaining and sharing good “in situ” data, especially “30 days” reliable data from the different sources (police, health, insurance).
Good communication and co-operation among the members of the data management team is crucial. If there are barriers to having good data then it is important to find out what they are and address them early on rather than circumvent them.
For the SOL situational assessment report, it may not be possible to obtain and assess all data and data sources in time for the completion of the first draft of the SOL Situation
Assessment report (end of June). If this is not possible the challenges to completion should be clearly noted in the situational assessment report and a date must be provided regarding when the data can be collected and comparisons made by the SOL data management team.
For example, not all communities may have information on the safety performance indicators for all years. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain information on road crash injuries and fatalities from health and insurance sources.
Issues of high importance to consider include o Identify the key challenges to data collection together with the data management team. This should be done in the first discussion on the situational assessment. o Establish a data collection plan in one of the first meetings. The plan should include regular meetings with the data management team throughout the data collection and analysis process. o The data collection plan should identify methods for dealing with data collection challenges and a timeline (a template is provided in ANNEX 6
The process for collecting the data needed for the road safety assessment should be determined by the SOL community data manger together with the SOL community data management team and the SOL country partner. This process should be outlined in the data collection plan, including a timeline for the data collection and dealing with challenges to data

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports collection see 5.3 Challenges to Data collection and ANNEX 6 for a model data collection plan.
TABLE 2. Road safety assessment areas and data sources
Road safety assessment area Data sources to be reviewed and compared
1. Number of accidents, collisions, killed and injured Police,
Trauma ward of hospital serving the SOL community
Death certificates
Insurance
3. Killed by age
Police
Police
Trauma ward of hospital serving the SOL community
Death certificates
Insurance
4 Killed by age pedestrian
5
.6
7
Killed by age in passenger cars
Killed by age motorcyclists
Killed by age bicyclists
Police
Trauma ward of hospital serving the SOL community
Death certificates
Insurance other
Police
Trauma ward of hospital serving the SOL community
Death certificates
Insurance other
Police
Trauma ward of hospital serving the SOL community
Death certificates
Insurance other
Police
Trauma ward of hospital serving the SOL community
Death certificates
Insurance

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
8 Killed by road user group other
Police other
9 Killed in accidents involving drivers/road users impaired by alcohol
In report please indicate the source/s of the fatality data, e.g. police
Police
Trauma ward of hospital serving the SOL community other
The analysis should indicate the propitiation of fatalities attributed to accidents involving drivers impaired by alcohol
Police,
Transport, other
10 Killed in accidents due to inappropriate speed
In report please indicate the source of the fatality data, e.g. police
The analysis should indicate the propitiation of fatalities attributed to speed
11 Killed by road type
In report please indicate the source of the fatality data, e.g. police
The analysis should indicate the propitiation of fatalities by road type
12 Killed by time of day
In report please indicate the source of the fatality data, e.g. police
In report please indicate the source of the fatality data, e.g. police
Police,
Transport, other
Police
Trauma ward of hospital serving the SOL community other
Police
SOL website tool
In report please indicate the source of the fatality data, e.g. police
Police
Vehicle registration agency
SOL website
Police
SOL website tool
16 Number of injured by age, gender and road user type
Police
Trauma ward of hospital servicing the SOL community
Public and private hospitals
Community health data other
17 Number of individuals hospitalized for more than
24 hours as a result of a road crash
Hospital data
18 Seat-belt wearing rates including seating position and child restraints
Police
Its recommended this data is

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports collected for the SOL project as part of the baseline.
Observational studies can be conducted by the SOL community team.
See ANNEX 7 for guidance on data collection for safety performance indicators
19. Percentage of drivers exceeding the speed limit on different types of the road
Police
Its recommended this data is collected for the SOL project as part of the baseline.
Speed surveys can be conducted by the SOL community team.
See ANNEX 7 for guidance on data collection for safety performance indicators
(FORTHCOMING)
20. Percentage of drivers exceeding the legal blood alcohol content level
Police
Its recommended this data is collected for the SOL project as part of the baseline assessment.
Surveys can be conducted by the police as an SOL community team partner.
See ANNEX 7 for guidance on data collection for safety performance indicators
(FORTHCOMING)
The institutional capacity review should be conducted by the SOL country partner in communication with the SOL technical team and working closely with the SOL data management team.
To insure the independence of the data collected and prevent self-reporting, the SOL country partner should lead this review. The final assessment and conclusions should be discussed with the SOL data management team to ensure ownership of the conclusions.
Make a plan for the institutional capacity review (see ANNEX 6) together with the data manager and data management team (FORTHCOMING)
Identify with the data management team, who and which institutions should be invited for this review.

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
The public knowledge and opinion survey will be developed and analyzed by a professional company. The survey will be translated into all SOL country languages WP3 leader ITS.
The survey will be conducted by internet – after discussions with several professional companies on this issue, it is felt that a representative sample can be reached via this method, due to the massive expanses of internet as a “way of life” – the company hired would guarantee to obtain a representative sample. It is recognised that older and poorer people must also be included in the survey. Because the questions are coded and linked to a database, the responses can be easily analyzed despite the language variations.
The main and important role of the SOL partner and community team will be to distribute information about the internet survey to the multistakeholder group in the
SOL community and encourage people to participate in the survey.
Completing the stakeholder assessment is the responsibility of the SOL country partner/s in cooperation with the SOL community team. This could be a project by a student or a volunteer.
Please refer to the SOL document on building multistakeholder partnerships on the importance of the stakeholder assessment.
One possible approach could be
1. invite the SOL community team representatives to individually fill in the stakeholder map included in the multistakeholder document.
2. The completed “maps” can be collected by the SOL data manager or SOL country partner
3. A student or volunteer can be invited to input the information into the tool “stakeholder on the SOL website questionnaire “road safety stakeholder analysis” under tables and questionnaires.
The purpose of this section is to give guidance on the analysis of the data and on completing the SOL situational assessment report for the community level.
Two types of reports will be produced using a prepared template (see ANNEX 5 for table of contents) (THIS IS FORTHCOMMING ). o One report will be produced per SOL community by the SOL partner/s in the country and validated by the SOL technical team o The primary purpose of this report is to present a clear understanding of the road safety situation in the community, including road safety data, institutional capacity, public opinion and knowledge, stakeholder map and main conclusions and recommendations for action

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports o The report will serve as a baseline for evaluating change and impact on road safety, institutional capacity, public opinion and the involvement of diverse stakeholders in road safety in the SOL communities a result of SOL o One transnational report o The primary purpose of this report is to present a summary of the situation in the
SOL communities, main issues influencing road safety (road safety, institutional capacity) in the SOL communities. o This report will serve as a baseline for evaluating the impact and changes in the
SOL communities as a result of SOL
It cannot be stressed enough that the development of the subsequent local strategy, action plan and interventions are fundamentally reliant on the best understanding possible of the road crash situation. So the data collection, analysis and reporting is probably the most important element of the SOL project and the foundation stone on which all later activities are based. The better the foundation, the stronger the building.
It is also worth repeating that each SOL local project is different. All the guidance developed as part of SOL needs to be seen in the perspective of local conditions. Guidance should never be seen as an alternative to local knowledge and experience. It is only supportive. The local teams and their knowledge and experience are central to the success of SOL.
This section has the following sub-sections:

Data validation, analysis and interpretation

Writing the report
Collecting data on road traffic injuries is rarely straightforward. The robustness of the data is generally an issue. Several factors affect data quality and reliability. These factors must be reviewed in order to arrive at data that is reliable and can be used (see section 5.3 on dealing with data challenges).
The data itself should be assessed for .

Conten t – this is given in the SOL Situational Assessment Surveys. Every effort needs to be made to complete these surveys as comprehensively as possible, but it is inevitable that in some situations, data will not exist or be available. Some data are more important than others, so the missing data will need to be carefully analysed and the impact assessed. In some cases it may be that the missing data is vital, so additional surveys may be required in order to gather the data.

Relevance – Generally the crash data is the highest priority, particularly the data on fatals and serious injuries. It is equally important to have consistent data, so that trends over time can be reliably measured. Problems where the trend is getting worse are often going to be more important than issues where the trends are improving over time. For the other data it is difficult to be prescriptive about relevance, as it will

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports depend on many factors including the crash data, the local ‘culture’, and the ability to undertake interventions.

Accuracy – The majority of the data will not be entirely accurate, with the possible exception of fatals. Wherever possible alternative sources should be identified that can give an independent assessment of the issue – for example hospital road crash admission data to check the Police crash records. In other cases we will know that the information is only a sample from the population a whole and in these cases a statistical analysis can give us an estimate of the confidence limits of the results. We know it is not possible to get accurate data and in many cases this will not be too much of a problem. We should, however, always attempt to make some secondary check as to the reliability of the data and to take account of accuracy when making decisions in the strategy and action plan development.
See Annex 1 for information on issues affecting data quality.
SOL is being implemented in pilot locations rather than at a national level. Thus addressing data quality issues may be more straight forward because the number of injury incidents is likely to be limited. The limited numbers must be taken into account in analysing the data.
Where data are disaggregated the numbers in each cell may be too small for reliable analysis. Data for more than one year may need to be combined where numbers are small.
This may not be a problem, but it should not be ignored.
Approaches to consider in assessing quality and validating the data

Limit the assessment and validation to injury-only incidents for the SOL situational assessment

Work with experts from a university or research institute, students or an NGO with experience in working with road crash injury data including validation. o Working with students on the data validation can provide an excellent value for money solution as well as being a good training for the students

Compare data on the same incident from different data sources o Undertake a pilot activities and compare data for a defined number of injury incidents from different sources including police, health and insurance

Consistency checks to determine to ensure data coherence and check whether there is a double insertion of incidents in to the database
A robust data analysis is crucial for road safety management purposes. A clear understanding of the main problems as well as strengths and areas where improvements are being made is essential for decision-making including allocating resources (human, financial) to treat the most important problems, build on success, monitoring, evaluating the impact of road safety interventions and refining programmes.
In addition, many road safety projects involve changing attitudes and behaviours of road users and this often requires a robust analysis of the problem. For example, if you are asking drivers to wear safety belts, you need soundly-researched numbers to support your request. How many drivers died last year, who could have been saved by wearing a belt?

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
Specialised knowledge is required to ensure the quality of the analysis, conclusions and recommendations. In addition, it will be beneficial to include local stakeholders from the
SOL pilot community and multistakeholder team to ensure local ownership of the analysis and conclusions. There is often resistance to road safety interventions and the data on which safety aims are made are often challenged. Having the results supported by an independent trusted body (like a University) can be important in getting across messages.
Issues to consider in analysing the data

Consider the recommendations of this guidance document and the SOL situational assessment website and community report

Involve the Data Management team in the analysis process o This will help ensure ownership of the analysis and outcome.

Work with specialists o Specialist knowledge is often available in the Mathematical/Statistical departments of Universities, or there may be a relevant research institute or
NGO.

Work with the SOL technical support team o Where the SOL country partners do not have experience in data analysis work the SOL Technical Support Team

Maintain regular communication with the local SOL community team about the analysis. Send them drafts of the report for comment. o Communications should be included in the data collection and analysis plan for the SOL situational assessment (see 5.3 Challenges to data collection) o As above, this will help ensure ownership of the analysis and outcome.
Specific guidance to consider in analysing the data for the SOL community situational assessment report is outlined below.
TABLE 3: approaches to undertaking the analysis
SOL assessment
1 Road safety assessment
Approach to undertaking the analysis
Work with specialists
The SOL community data manager can enter the data into the road safety assessment tool on the
SOL situational assessment website to produce tables.
Otherwise another programme can be used for inserting and analysing the data
These tables can be inserted into the situational assessment report and commented by the SOL partner or specialists drafting the community

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports situational assessment report (see data interpretation)
2 Institutional capacity review
3 Public opinion and knowledge
See section below on data interpretation
This data will be analyzed and reported by a professional company. No action is required by the SOL partner for the analysis.
The reported findings will need to be included in the community situational assessment report by the SOL country partner.
4 Stakeholder assessment Enter the data into the stakeholder analysis tool on the SOL situational assessment website to produce a table. This table can be inserted into the community situational assessment report.
In the road safety assessment it would be helpful if you could provide information in your analysis on

Propitiation of overall fatalities attributed to accidents involving drivers impaired by alcohol

Proportion of overall fatalities attributed to speed

Proportion of overall fatalities by road type
Through the interpretation of the data, conclusions can be drawn about the main issues influencing road safety and road safety management in the community as well as opportunities for improvement. These conclusions will be important for making recommendations and facilitating consensus about actions to be taken to strengthen road safety in the community in the situational assessment workshop
It is essential for the interpretation of the data analysis to be undertaken with input from specialists (see issues to consider in analysing the data). These recommendations also apply for interpreting the data.
Table 4 : approaches to interpreting the data
SOL assessment
1 Road safety assessment
Approach to interpreting the data
Work with specialists. This could involve the SOL country team, the national SOL advisory group, the SOL technical team.
The interpretation should include specialists in the SOL community team where this is possible.
This will help ensure ownership of the

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
2 Institutional capacity review
3 Public opinion and knowledge
4 Stakeholder assessment interpretation and a solid link with experience and the situation in the community.
The SOL technical team can support with interpretation
Regular communication should be maintained with the SOL technical team on the data interpretation. A first draft can be sent to GRSP for review.
The checklist findings should be interpreted using expert judgment derived from road safety management experience.
If the answers to questions in the checklists are mainly ‘no’ or ‘pending,’ capacity is clearly very weak.
With a high number of ‘pending’ or ‘partial’ situations, again capacity is weak, but signs of capacity strengthening are evident and should be acknowledged and encouraged.
It is only when there is a predominance of ‘yes’ answers that capacity can be viewed as strong.
Regular communication should be maintained with the SOL technical team on the data interpretation. A first draft can be sent to GRSP for review.
This data will be analyzed and reported by a professional company. No action is required by the SOL partner in the analysis.
Nonetheless the reported findings will need to be included in the community situational assessment report by the SOL partner.
How the conclusions apply to the SOL project and subsequent activities including the strategy and action plan development will be discussed during the situational assessment workshop.
The data can be interpreted to show
1. The type of disciplines (e.g. health, transport, environment etc) involved in road safety
2. The number of businesses in the community involved in road safety and issues they are interested in

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
3. The number of NGOS in the community involved in road safety and issues they are interested in
4. Gaps where few stakeholders are active
5. Opportunities to build synergies, such as among organisations with similar interests and focus areas
A template for the SOL community situational assessment report has been developed (see
ANNEX 5). Having a template will help focus the report on the essential issues, final outputs, identify gaps at an early stage, enable a review of the situation and identification of key and shared issues in the SOL communities.
The sections in the report must be completed by the SOL partners. If the data are not available at this time, a note can be made in the section stating “data are pending”. An explanation must be provided regarding why these data cannot be included at this time and when the data can be expected. It can be included in a later draft of the report. Please see section 5.3 Challenges to data collection and ANNEX 6 – a model data collection plan and timeline.
There are also flexible sections of the report to allow SOL partners to include information in that may relevant for the SOL community and the pilot in particular and may not be included in the standard SOL data collection templates.
It will be essential to seek consensus by the SOL community team and key community decision-makers on the conclusions of the situational assessment and ownership of the resulting recommendations.
Issues to consider in generating consensus

share drafts of the report with the SOL community team for comment

invite the mayor or governor to open the situational assessment workshop

have a press conference on the situational assessment report and invite key stakeholders including the mayor or governor, the police, the SOL data manager and data management team to be speakers at the press conference

invite members of the SOL community team to present parts of the situational assessment report during the situational assessment workshop and facilitate discussions on recommended action

present the final report and main conclusions to the team and other key community decision makers in the situational assessment workshop.
A format for the situational assessment workshop will be drafted and shared with the SOL partners for comment before the workshops are conducted.

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
This section focuses on the specific demographic, road crash, road crash injury and transport data that are needed for road safety management and advocacy purposes in order to bring about the desired road safety results and where these data may be found.
These data will help us understand the scope and characteristics of the road safety situation in our communities including identifying the main risk factors in road crashes – such as speed, drink-drive, visibility, and high-risk groups such as pedestrians, cyclists, and novice drivers and high risk locations.
These data are also crucial for planning and managing road safety in order to achieve road safety results.
Understanding road safety data
Outcome indicators
Road traffic crashes, deaths and injuries are most often used to describe the road safety situation. These “outcome indicators” are the result of the unsafe operational conditions of the road traffic systems.
Figure 2: road safety outcome indicators
Indicator
Number of injuries
Description
Absolute figure indicating the number of people injured in road traffic crashes
Injuries may be slight or serious
Use and limitations
Number of deaths
Number of injury (or fatal) crashes
Fatalities per 10,000 motor vehicles
Absolute figure indicating the number of people who die as a result of a road traffic crash
Absolute figure indicating the number of crashes that result in injury (or fatalities)
Relative figure showing ratio of fatalities to motor vehicles
Useful for planning at the local level
Not very useful for making comparisons
A large portion of slight injuries are under reported
Gives partial estimate of the magnitude of the road traffic problem in terms of deaths
Useful for planning at the local level
Not very useful for comparisons
Useful for planning at the local level
One crash can result in multiple fatalities/injuries
Shows the relationship between fatalities and size of motor vehicle fleet
Omits non-motorized transport and other indictors of exposure
Accuracy depends on reliability of vehicle registration
Reductions may be due to growth in number of vehicles, rather than real road safety gains

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
Fatalities per 100,000 population
Fatalities per vehicle kilometre travelled
Relative figure showing ratio of fatalities to population
Number of road deaths per billion kilometers travelled
Shows the impact of road traffic crashes on human population
Useful for estimating severity of crashes
Useful for Showing magnitude of problem in relation to other causes of death
Useful for international compairisons
Does not take into account nonmotorized travel
Vehicle-kilometres travelled can be hard to measure and is not widely available
Intermediate indicators
Intermediate indicators, also known as safety performance indicators, are variables used in addition to road crash and injury data to monitor road safety performance. These include:
Speed : average speed on different parts of the road network, proportion of drivers above the speed limit
Safety belt usage : in the front and rear seats for all motorized vehicles
Child restraint systems : the proportion of children travelling in restraints approapriate for their age and weight
Drink-driving : the percentage of fatalities resulting from where one ore more drivers involved have a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit
Helmet usage: the percentage of drivers and riders of motorized 2 wheelers wearing helmets properly (e.g. strap buckled) on different parts of the road network
Enforcement: number of and kind of fines given for specific traffic law offences, number of breath-tests performed and percentage that are positive
This information can be helpful in understanding the factors contributing to road crashes and road crash injury severity, understanding the robustness of enforcement levels and understanding positive and negative changes in road safety performance.
Process and implementation indicators
Process and implementation indicators illustrate how road safety management is functioning.
These indicators include interventions such as social marketing campaigns and enforcement efforts, legislation on key road safety issues such as speed limits, policies such as road safety strategies, and coordination such as the existence of a lead agency or government department appointed with the responsibility to manage road safety.
These indicators are not used for monitoring or measuring the impact of interventions or the road safety situation. They must be viewed together with outcome indicators and intermediate indicators and possibly special surveys in order to have an accurate picture of the road safety situation.

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
Social cost indicators
Social cost indicators facilitate an understanding of the impact of road crashes and road crash injury on society and the economy. These indicators may include the cost of a road crash fatality, the cost of a road crash injury and the average cost of different severities of road crashes. Together these costs provide an estimate of economic losses due to road crashes.
The indicators may be derived from direct social costs such as medical care, property damage and legal costs resulting from the road crash. They may also include indirect social costs. Indirect costs are generally understood as lost productivity (earnings, time) and costs such as pain and suffering. Please check the social costs used in your country for a fatality and injury collision.
Data needs to plan and understand road safety outcomes
In order to understand the road safety situation and plan, manage interventions, data is required for each of these “outcome” areas.
Outcome Data needs
Final outcome
Exposure measures
Intermediate outcomes
Number of deaths, number of serious injuries to road users, characteristics of the crashes
Demographic data, number of licensed drivers, traffic volume data, infrastructure factors
Average traffic speeds, safety belt and helmet wearing rates, drink-driving, vehicle and infrastructure safety rating associated with road traffic injuries
Outputs Types of interventions: legislation, social marketing campaigns, enforcement efforts, community programmes
Source: “Data systems: a road safety manual for practitioners and decision-makers” (WHO
2010)
Figure 3 Using data to achieve road safety results

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
Source: LTSA 2003; Koornstra ; Hakkert AS & Gitelman V, 2007
Road safety data and sources
Road safety data used in understanding and planning interventions, intermediate outcomes, final outcomes and social costs is derived from a variety of sources. In the case of intermediate outcome Information (Safety performance indicators) regular surveys are needed to collect this information. Separate reviews are also needed to identify and monitor interventions.
Figure 3 Data types and sources needed for road safety management and advocacy
Type of data Observations Source
Police data
Hospital and health sector data
Number of road traffic incidents, fatalities and injuries
Road users involved
Age and gender of casualties
Vehicles involved
Police assessment of causes of crashes
Location and sites of crashes
Prosecutions
Fatal and non-fatal injuries
Age and sex of casualties
Costs of treatment
Level of detail varies from one country to another.
Police records can be inaccessible.
Underreporting is a common problem,
Level of detail varies from one hospital to another.
Injury data may be recorded under
“other causes”, making it difficult to

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
Insurance companies
Other private and public institutions, including transport companies
Government departments and specialized agencies collecting data for national planning and development
Fatal and non-fatal injuries
Damage to vehicles
Costs of claims
Number of fatal and non-fatal injuries occurring among employees
Damage and losses
Insurance claims
Legal issues
Operational data
Demographic data including
Population denominators
Income and expenditure data
Health indicators
Exposure data
Pollution data
Energy consumption
Literacy levels extract for analysis.
Access to these data may be difficult.
These data may be specific to the planning and operation of the firms.
These data are complementary and important for analysis of road traffic injuries.
The data are collected by different ministries and organizations, though there may be one central agency that compiles and produces reports, such as statistical abstracts, economic surveys and development plans.
The various organizations have different interests.
Special interest groups
(research institutes, advocacy nongovernmental organizations, victim support organizations, transport unions, consulting firms, institutions involved in road safety activities, and others)
Number of road traffic incidents, fatal and non-fatal injuries
The type of road users involved
Age and sex of casualties
Vehicles involved
Causes
Location and sites of crashes
Social and psychological impacts
Interventions
Source: Data systems: a road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners (WHO
2010)

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Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
In addition to the above data, transport sector data is needed to understand the role infrastructure, vehicles and traffic flows may play in influencing road crashes and injury severity. Roughly this data includes

Road layout, design and environment

Traffic flows and characteristics

Vehicle

Driver
Figure 4 Transport sector data
Roadway data Traffic data Vehicle data Driver data

Number, class and length of road

Road type, by number of lanes, median width

Number of lanes and lane width

Crossing type, intersection design

Type of traffic control (signals, roundabouts, stop or give way)

Alignment
(horizontal and vertical curvature, grade, etc.)

Road surface
(bitumen, concrete, unsurfaced)

Surface condition
(roughness, rutting, potholes)

Shoulders: width, type and condition

Drainage

Speed limits

Lighting by type and location

Parking regulations

Location data (x,y coordinates, route number and nearest km post or a nodelink system)

Traffic volumes as vehicles per day
(AADT), or short specific counts at given locations

Traffic composition by types of vehicles in the traffic mix

Traffic variation (as required by time of day, day of week, month or annually)

Turning movements at junctions

Vehicle speed data

Details of ownership: name, address, year of ownership

Vehicle registration number together with chassis and engine number

Engine size and type, i.e. petrol or diesel

Seating capacity

Year of manufacture and year of first registration in country

Body type (car, van, pick up etc), number of doors, together with details of modifications

Colour

Roadworthiness certificate

Age and sex

Full name and address

Type of license held, i.e. full or provisional and type of vehicle for which license is valid.

Year and place of issue

Year driving test was passed

Record of offences committed

Record of suspensions from driving

Essential medical information
Source: Data systems: a road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners (WHO
2010)
Journey purpose
Understanding the purpose of a road crash victim’s journey can be helpful in developing effective interventions. Journey purpose data can shed light on the contribution to the overall road crash situation by different occupational groups including lorry driver, public bus drivers, sales personnel and people driving to meetings or other purposes.

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
Work related road safety is an increasing focus on road safety efforts and by policy makers at the international and European levels such as the European Transport Safety Council’s
PRAISE project.
Data collected in journey purpose can include

Journey as a part of work

Commuting to/from work

Taking child/student to/ from school

Pupil travelling to/from school

Life and network necessities and social activities (e.g. grocery shopping, visiting friends)

Life enhancement activities (sports, hobbies, driving for pleasure)

Holidays and weekends away

Other (to be specified)

Unknown
Data quality
•
•
•
•
•
The quality of road safety data is crucial. Even in Europe, the quality of road safety data – especially pertaining to injuries – is affected by under-reporting. For example, the police may not always be informed when a crash occurs. When the police do go to the crash scene, not all relevant details of the crash may be recoded. Sometimes data may be lost in transferring data from decentralized location to a central location. The police may not be able to properly assess the severity of an injury, for example in the case of internal injuries when no external injury is apparent.
Injury reporting may be influenced by a number of factors as well. Individual with minor injuries may not seek formal medical care, the cause of the injury may not be disclosed by the patient, data may be incorrectly coded by the health worker or by the person responsible for data extraction or data entry.
Understanding and identifying areas where underreporting or non-reporting (eg on performance indicators) may be occurring is a crucial step in developing a road crash and road crash data system with reliable data.
A review of international road crashes by the International Road Traffic and Accident
Database (IRTAD) Group found the following reasons for under-reporting:
• Unaware of any obligation to report the incident to the police
Injuries regarded as so minor that reporting was not considered necessary
Injuries were not apparent at the time the incident took place
Forgot to report the incident
Did not want to report the crash for personal reasons
A lack of reporting agreements between the police, hospitals, ambulance teams

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Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
A word on data systems
A wide array of data and information are collected on road crashes and their outcome by diverse stakeholders, including police, health, transport, insurance and others such as research organizations. Data systems help capture this data. The outputs from data systems help define priorities for action, contribute to the development of interventions and policies, and help guide the allocation of resources (human and financial).
The quality and type of data going into the system and the capabilities of the data system, are very important because a data-led diagnosis and management is crucial for understanding the problems and solutions that will lead to sustainable reductions in exposure to crash risk and crash severity.
Many data systems and road safety management approaches rely largely or only on police data. In considering possibilities for expanding the road safety data system in your community to process other sources and kinds of information such as health sector data, its helpful to understand what data is already being collected and how it is currently being used to manage road safety, who are the end users of the data and what data needs to they have
, and whether the current data and data system sufficiently meet their needs.
The publication Data systems: a road safety manual for practitioners and decision-makers
(WHO 2010) provides helpful guidance on how to assess an end-user needs assessment and strategies for expanding a road safety data and information system.
Data analysis and international comparisons
It is crucial to analyze data collected over a long period of time in order to determine whether the number and severity of crashes remains consistent, increases, or decreases. In order to be able to do such analysis it is crucial to have data available covering a period of the past 5 years.
The analysis of crash data will allow us to establish whether the problem in our region is general or specific to our conditions and different than in other regions of our country or in
Europe. Other regions may have developed best practices to tackle the problem effectively; these can provide valuable information.
Moreover, you can also compare the situation in your country with that of other countries. For instance, you can use annual international databases to compare accidents occurring in
European countries and abroad (international comparison). However, one must be careful in interpreting the data, because international databases do not always define their terms in the same way (road accidents, traffic laws, etc.).
International road safety databases
There are several international databases on road safety which can be used to obtain road accident statistics from around the world.
 The CARE database (Community Road Accident Database) of the European Union’s
Directorate-General for Energy and Transport (DG-MOVE) includes detailed data on accidents, accidents circumstances, fatalities etc. CARE includes detailed data on individual accidents as collected by Europe’s member states.

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/statistics/care_reports_graphics/index
_en.htm
 The European Road Safety Observatory (ERSO) is an essential website for all
European roadsafety professionals. ERSO is the gateway into a central resource of
European road-safety data, knowledge, and links. It helps policymakers, researchers, and road-safety advisors to link up with the European road-safety world. The ERSO knowledge base, particularly the section on accident data, offers in-depth information about alcohol and driving, novice drivers, older drivers, costbenefit analysis, post-impact care, road-safety management, road-safety ratings, speeding, speed enforcement, pedestrians and cyclists, vehicle safety, work-related road safety, and quantitative roadsafety targets. http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/index_en.htm
 The International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) provides an aggregated database of about 500 data items from 33 countries, for which international accident, victim, and risk data are collected on a continuous basis.
http://internationaltransportforum.org/irtad/datasets.html
 UN publications including basic data on road accidents of European countries, Canada,
USA and Israel http://www.unece.org/trans/main/wp6/transstatpub.html
 Other specific databases containing data for specific road users or specific locations can be used: CHILD (children), ECBOS (coach and bus occupants), ETAC (truck accidents),
MAIDS (motorcyclists), RISER (highways accidents), etc.
Definitions:
Crash/Accident – a collision or incident involving at least one road vehicle in motion, on a public road or private road to which the public has right of access (UNECE Glossary for
Transport Statistics 2009)
Injury severity Crash severity
Fatal any person killed immediately or dying within 30 days as a result of a road traffic
Fatal any road traffic crash resulting in a person killed immediately or dying within 30 injury accident, excluding suicides days as a result of the crash
Seriously injured – Injury that requires Serious/severe any road traffic crash admission to hospital for at least 24 hours or resulting in at least one serious injury and no specialist attention, such as fractures, fatalities concussions, severe shock and severe laceration (Data systems: a road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners
Slight/minor Injury that requires little or no medical attention (e.g. sprains, brusies, at least one minor injury, and no serious superficial cuts and scratches)
Slight/minor any road traffic crash resulting in injuries or fatalities
No injury Damage only
Any road traffic crash which does not result in any injuries
CARE definitions http://ec.europa.eu/transport/roadsafety_library/care/doc/care_glossary.pdf page 37
-

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UN ECE definitions http://www.unece.org/trans/main/wp6/pdfdocs/RAS_2007.pdf page 138
-
National road accident statistics on the internet: http://erso.swov.nl/safetynet/fixed/WP1/D1.14%20CADaS_The%20Common%20Accident%2
0Data%20Set_Final%20report_2.pdf
- page 19

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Institutional capacity to deliver effective and sustainable road safety interventions across a range of sectors and disciplines is a key factor in road crash injury prevention. Building capacity to manage road safety systematically is a long-term process.
According to the World report on road traffic injury prevention (WHO, World Bank 2004) highincome countries have developed this capacity over an extended period of motorization and through the growth and regular reform of institutions. In the Central European Space, and in middle-income countries in other regions of the world as well, systemic safety management is generally weaker, and needs to be strengthened.
Strengthening institutional capacity to develop and deliver effective and sustainable road crash injury prevention programmes in the SOL pilot communities is a key objective of the
SOL project.
This section focuses on assessing institutional capacity as the bases for identify opportunities and define processes to strengthen the management and delivery of effective and long-term road safety improvements.
What is meant by road safety institutional capacity?
Road crash injury prevention is ultimately the responsibility of government at all levels – national, state, provincial and municipal. Institutional road safety capacity describes the framework, the resources, the tools and the process put in place by government to manage the prevention of road crashes and road crash injury long-term.
To be effective, an integrated framework is required that enables collaboration among diverse disciplines and sectors, is focused on achieving concrete objectives, is well resourced, includes monitoring and evaluation of road safety performance, and establishes a system of accountability for road safety performance and outcomes.
Institutional capacity elements include

A lead agency or government agency or department responsible and accountable for delivering measurable road safety results

Road safety planning and management tools including data systems, a road safety strategy developed in collaboration with diverse stakeholder groups and adopted by government, action plans to deliver the strategy

Sufficient professional capacity including well-trained road safety professionals in diverse disciplines (government/diverse levels, police, transport, health, justice, environment…) to achieve the objectives of the strategy

Sufficient financial resources to achieve the agreed objectives of the strategy
Why is strong institutional capacity important to improve road safety?
The experience of successful road safety countries in Europe and abroad clearly shows that robust and results focused road safety management systems are crucial to achieving sustainable reductions in road crashes and road crash injury. Governments at all levels much show strong leadership and adopt an approach that focuses on the achievement of agreed objectives and fatality and injury reduction targets. Key agencies much have clear

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports responsibilities for achieving safety outcomes and be held accountable for their road safety performance. When this is not the case, the coordination and delivery of road safety interventions can be ineffective and often little is known about results achieved through specific interventions.
According to the World Bank publication Implementing the recommendations of the World report (World Bank 2009) “capacity weaknesses must be systematically addressed as an urgent priority … Otherwise road safety results in low and middle-income countries will continue to deteriorate in the face of rapid motorization and scaled-up road infrastructure provision.”
How can institutional capacity be strengthened?
A strong and robust road safety management is system at is a key element of efforts at all levels of government to systematically reduce road crashes in road crash injury . Crucial elements of a strong road safety management system include

strong institutional management functions including a focus on achieving results

the delivery of interventions that are based on data, ideally from diverse sources
In order to understand the characteristics of the current road safety professional and institutional capacity in the SOL communities to develop and deliver a results focused road safety strategy and interventions and monitor and evaluate effectiveness of road safety performance a “capacity review” will be undertaken.
The content of the review is based on the recommendations of the World Bank publication
Implementing the recommendations of the World report (World Bank, 2009) and other
European and international publications focusing on strengthening road safety management.

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
Experience has shown that road safety measures can only be successful when supported by the public. Getting pubic support is therefore vital to road safety and there is nothing worse that installing road safety schemes that have to be subsequently removed because the local population does not accept them.
It is also the case that road safety measures will be more successful when the local population is actively supportive, and demanding that something be done. It is important to know where and when road safety initiatives have the best chance of public support and hence success.
A Public Knowledge and Opinion survey is one of the three main data collection exercises that are important for improving road safety (the other two are road collisions analyses and road users behaviour observations).
Topics covered by public opinion surveys often include:

Speed

Cameras

Alcohol

Enforcement/penalties

Seat belts and child restraints

General attitudes to travel risk

Reaction to road safety advertising and campaigns
Information can often be collected quickly for public knowledge and opinion surveys and the cost can be relatively low.
When to carry out a public knowledge and opinion survey?
If you want to have the information on:

the level of knowledge of different respondents groups on a given topic,

opinions of different users groups regarding current and past situation in road traffic,

opinions of road users concerning implemented and planned preventive activities
(preventive tools),

declared behaviours towards driving and road safety.
How do you collect the data?
You can collect the data by asking members of the public, either by using face-to-face interviews, or by sending out questionnaires..
Ideally the survey should be cross-sectional, which means that the number, gender and ages of those asked matches the proportions as represented in the local population (and ideally weighted by the number of kilometers each category drives in a year). This means that you have to know the proportions in the local population and then instruct the interviewers to

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports have a specific number of interviews in each category. This makes the interviewing longer and more expensive.
Often it is sufficient to ask members of the public at random, although a check of the sample taken against the local population is advised. For questionnaires, the responses can be weighted to represent the local population.
There are several techniques to do the interview, ranging from an informal conversation to an intensive, structured interview with precisely written questions in a specific order.
Alternatively one can use telephone interviews, internet survey, mail survey (posted questionnaires with return envelopes).
What do you have to consider when developing public knowledge and opinion survey?

Define the aim of the survey

Determine the survey target group (> representativeness of the population, sampling)

Method of data collection (questionnaire construction, types of questions, i.e. open – closed-ended, using response scales).

Way of approaching the respondents.

Analysis of results.

Who is going to do it for you ? Getting the help of local stakeholders such as schools or colleges can provide low cost man power.

Consider outsourcing to a specialized company
Constructing the questionnaire:

introduction:

focus of the survey,

information on interviewing institution,

explanation of the survey aim,

incentive to fill-in the questionnaire (only paper one) and providing comprehensive information,

questions,

name, address etc.
Guidelines for developing a questionnaire:

questions order should be logical (divided into thematic modules), from general questions to more detailed ones,

difficult or problematic questions should be placed in the middle of the questionnaire, the easy ones always at the beginning or end,

questions should be clear and comprehensible, each question should regard one issue,

questions must be unbiased, cannot imply the answer,

questions have to create the possibility to provide an exhaustive answer,

questions which generate risk of having double-dealing answers should not be included,

personal, too direct and sensitive questions should be avoided,

a clear instruction concerning filling in the questionnaire must be included.

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
While carrying out the public knowledge and opinion survey you have to remember to:

include, at the top of the questionnaire, thanks to the respondent for his/her will to participate in the survey,

develop the questionnaire in a way so it includes only crucial questions,

draw your attention to respondent’s needs, to signals indicating your respondent feels uncomfortable during the interview (personal interview),

include, at the bottom of the questionnaire, thanks to your respondent for participation in the survey,

assuring him/her the receipt of the survey results.

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Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
Source: World report on road traffic injury prevention, WHO, World Bank 2004
This section focuses on undertaking a stakeholder assessment in your community and the creation of a stakeholder map. This activity will help you identify diverse road safety stakeholders in your community, who can be crucial to designing and or delivering effective road safety programmes in the community. These stakeholders may be essential to developing the road safety strategy and strengthening road safety management in general in the community. They may also be an important player in delivering road safety interventions in the community.
Road safety stakeholders: theory and practice
Road safety stakeholders are persons and institutions which have an interest in contributing to road safety interventions. Examples include
 Government at all levels
 Government agencies (police, health, rescue)
 School
 Employers
 Hospitality community – bars, restaurants, hotels
 Tourist
 Insurance
 Festival and event organizers
 Sports
 Churches
 Media
 Taxi

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
 Volunteer networks (e.g., La Prévention Routière, Veilig Verkeer Nederland, Deutsche
Verkehrswacht, Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents)
 Road-safety
 Organisations that can provide logistical support such as lending special equipment for public awareness events (driving simulators, equipment for testing reaction times, etc.)
 Professional organisations (e.g., insurance industry associations, trade associations for the auto-repair industry, express delivery companies, corporate fleet managers)
 Activist groups (e.g., for cyclists, motorcyclists, truck drivers)
 Alcohol-beverage producers (for a drinking-and-driving campaign)
 Associations of restaurant owners, nightclub owners, etc.
 Doctors, medical personnel, and hospitals
 Health services and clinics
 Supermarkets and retail stores (e.g., bike shops, car-accessory stores)
 Telecommunications industry (e.g., mobile phone makers, telecommunications providers)
 Service stations, petrol companies, etc.
 Automakers, manufacturers of safety equipment, etc.
 Researchers, academics, universities, etc.
Why undertake a stakeholder assessment and create a stakeholder map is helpful for road safety planning?
A stakeholder assessment sheds light on the social and political environment in which SOL will be developed and implemented. Its primary function is to identify all possible partners who might have an interest in addressing road safety and sustainable mobility, including those who might initially oppose the project. It can help
• to identify key stakeholders, define their characteristics and examine how they will be affected by SOL (e.g. their specific interests, likely expectations in terms of benefits, changes and outcomes);
• to assess their potential influence on the development, and implementation of SOL;
• to understand the relationship between stakeholders and possible conflicts of interest that may arise;
• to assess the capacity of different stakeholders to participate and the likelihood of their contributing to the process;
• to decide how they should be involved in the process to ensure the best possible quality and viability of the programme, in particular: o the nature of their participation (e.g. as advisers or consultants, or as collaborating partners); o the form of their participation (e.g. as a member of the working group, or as an advisor, or sponsor);

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports o the mode of their participation (e.g. as an individual participant or as a representative of a group).
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Using the stakeholder map to build road safety partnerships
All stakeholders and partners can play an important role in the choice of activities or promotion of actions, and/or participate in these activities.
Evidence from the most successful road safety countries and communities in Europe and abroad shows that effective and sustainable prevention of road crashes and road crash injury can best be achieved through coordinated multisectoral collaboration – so encouraging and enabling the diverse stakeholders to work together in partnership towards common road safety objectives.
Developing strategic partnerships is useful for:
 Reducing duplication of effort.
Sharing knowledge and expertise.
Ensuring better allocation of resources.
Getting social support and public involvement.
Overcoming potential obstacles created by opposing parties.
Effects of synergy – cooperation of several stakeholders is always more effective than uncoordinated activities of single institutions.
The EU-funded projects and the OECD have highlighted many examples of how local road safety planning and local delivery partnerships can contribute sustained improvements in road safety.

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
(forthcoming)

The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports
See accompanying excel to access this
09/05/2011 16/05/2011 23/05/2011 30/05/2011 06/06/2011 13/06/2011 20/06/2011 27/06/2011 04/07/2011 11/07/2011 18/07/2011 25/07/2011 ########### ########### responsible complete week   1 week2 week   3 week   4 week   5 week   6 week7 week   8 week   8 week   10 week   11 week   12 week   13 week   14 week   15
1 Introduction   to   situational   assessment
1.1
Meeting   with   SOL   community   team   on   the   situational   assessment   and   report
1.2 produce   delivery   plan
2 Data   management   team
2.1 identify   manager
2.2 build   core   team
3
Situational   assessment   plan   and   timeline
3.1 agree   tasks
3.2 agree   who   is   doing   it
3.3 agree   delivery   date
4 undertake   stiuational   assessment
4.1 stakeholder   assessment
4.1.1 multistakeholder   team   completes   form
4.1.2 information   inserted   into   report
4.2 road   safety   assessment
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4.3 institutional   capacity   review    
4.4 public   opinion   survey     
5 Validate   data
5.1 check   other   sources   for   robustness
5.2 check   for   missing   data
5.3
go   back   and   attempt   to   gather   missing   data
6 Analyze   data
6.1 prioritise   the   problem   by   size
6.2
prioritise   the   problem   by   ease   of   improving
6.3 first   bash   at   conclusions
7 Write   situational   assessment   reprot
7.1 Drafting
7.2 first   draft   ready
8 Situational   assessment   workshop
8.1 hold   workshop
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The SOL situational assessment
Guidance document for undertaking the situational assessment and reports

The sole responsibility for the content of this document lies with the authors. It does not represent the opinion of the European Communities. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. The project „SOL – Save our Lives“ in the Central Europe
Program www.central2013.eu is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).