“The Future of Road Safety : Creating Safer Drivers and Safer Roads”

20 June 2012

Case Study Sheffield – Using Innovation to Cut Casualties and Collisions

John BannHead of Transport, Traffic and Parking Services

Sheffield City Council

For more information about issues raised and this presentation go to www.Sheffield.gov.uk/futureroadsafety

City of Sheffield Context

- 4th largest City in UK : 555,000

- Part of South Yorkshire Metropolitan County (1.3m)

- Most affluent and most deprived wards in UK

- Only major City with national park in its boundary

LONDON

SHEFFIELD

NEWCASTLE

M1

Innovation in Road Safety in Sheffield

- Part of national Urban Road Safety Project 1983 - 87

- First 20 mph zone in UK – January 1991

- Site trials for various road hump designs – DfT/TRRL

- Council run off road driver training centre – “In Car Safety Centre”

- Strong team of 14 RSOs working in schools etc

- Kerbcraft pioneer Gold – Main roads

- Speed management plan Silver – Secondary roads New tool kit Bronze – Local roads

- Child Safety Zones – areas of deprivation

SCC - Casualties Back to 1979

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

Tota

l num

ber

of c

asua

lties

in y

ear

- Falling serious accident rate in 1980s and early 90s

- 20 mph / Child Safety Zones ( Child casualties 56%, speed 30%)

- Flat-lined mid 90s - mid 2000 (budget / staff cuts; end of cheap bus fares)

- Not on track to hit 2010 target for all/child casualties (1994/98 baseline)

Impact of Innovation

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

079 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

2004 – Year of Challenge

- DfT Visit – criticism of SY LTP1 performance / delivery esp. road safety:

- Consultant report on road safety

- not hitting targets

-lack of sub regional working

- governance not clear

- police not fully engaged

- ETP work not co-ordinated

- reduced RS resource level (1 RSO in Sheffield)

- SCC Chief Executive challenged the service

- wanted intelligence led approach

- Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA2) with Government

- 19% reduction in KSIs 2003 - 2005

The Response – Sheffield City Council (1)

- Adults: – Speeding drivers- Driving at Work

- Adult pedestrians

- Motor cyclists

- Young drivers and passengers- Looked but failed to see

- Children: – Young child pedestrians

- Car passengers

- Walking to/from school

- Cyclists

Cabinet approved Sheffield 10 Point Plan to reduce casualties 2006

Data led approach, prioritised to groups involved in most accidents

- Later refined for S.Y. Partnership

- Young drivers

- Driving to/for Work

- Powered 2 wheelers > 125cc

- Powered 2 wheelers < 125cc

- Adult cyclists

- Child cyclists

- Young adult pedestrians

- Secondary school age pedestrians

- Primary school age pedestrians

- Pre-school age

The Response – Sheffield City Council (2)

- Restructure of RS team - recruitment of a new ETP group

- Education Dept funding

- Expanded child pedestrian and cycling training / introduced adult cycle training

- Greater partnership working across South Yorkshire

- SCC advising/assisting colleagues in other Districts.

- Fact finding visit to TRL January 2009 – Psychology of driving

- Reviewed our Traffic Calming tool box with Mott McDonald to include innovatory measures

The Response – Sheffield City Council (3)

- less physical calming measures – political/driver reaction – cost

- DIY street experiment with Sustrans

- SIDS – local choice / rotation

- Billy Bollards

- Sign only 20 mph zones – community led

- Visit to Portsmouth

- Removal of road markings

- Report to Cabinet June 2009 – Innovative Traffic Calming

“The true innovation will be through the psychology of driving, in order

to change behaviour and attitude”

Snow Wardens (1)

- Sheffield – Pennine Peak District on 7 hills

- Council grits/ploughs main traffic/bus routes- 59% of road network

- 2000 grit bins cover rest of network- residents self service

- In addition 100 snow warden volunteers since 2010

Snow Wardens (2)

- 1 tonne bag of salt received prior to snowfall

- all trained, issued with PPE and tools

- covered by Council insurance

- no personal legal liability

- Community spirit – “Big Society”

- access to local shops/facilities

- local safety problems

- assistance getting onto main roads

- every little helps!

The Response – South Yorkshire Partnership (1)

Sorted out SY Safety Camera Partnership 2004 – 2006

Set up SY Casualty Reduction Partnership 2006- chaired by SY Police – Assistant Chief Constable- involved 4 LAs; Fire & Rescue; Ambulance; Primary Care Trusts; HA;

Peak Park; Sheffield University (research support)- developed governance based and Police command structure - series

of groups- Gold – strategy- Silver – tactical- Bronze – implementation

- Agreed SY Road safety Improvement Plan- Joint programmes, sharing resources not duplicating effort

The Response – South Yorkshire Partnership (2)

Primary focus – casualty reduction

Data led analysis – dedicated Research & Analysis Officer – funded by Police

Engineering - Worst First £1m spend (LTP)

Enforcement - speed/drink drive/belts

- ANPR : stolen/untaxed/uninsured vehicles

Education - Camera Partnership Comms Officer, working across all RS areas

- linking in with National campaigns ~

The Response – South Yorkshire Partnership (3)

Focus on public health and community safety

- One message approach for all parties

- Drive for Life/Learn Safe Drive Safe/

Theatre in Education

- Teenagers/young adults

- Lifewise Centre (Year 6)- Crucial crew – scenario based

learning

The Response – South Yorkshire Partnership (4)

Joint Funding – Partnership bidding

- Partner Revenue Budgets

- S Y Local Transport Plan

- Local Sustainable Transport Fund bid

- Speed Awareness/Drive Improvement Courses

- Sponsorship

The Results

Child KSI Casualties in Sheffield compared with National Targets

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Year

Cas

ualti

es

Child KSI

Child KSI Target

KSI Casualties in Sheffield compared with National Targets

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Year

Cas

ual

ties

All KSI All KSI Target

Sheffield LPSA2 target bettered by 14 KSI casualties

No child fatalities since 2007

2010 Govt target %SY %

KSI - 40 - 40.3

Child KSI - 50 - 60

Slights - 10 - 30

The Future (1)

Centralised data collection – accidents and traffic – LAs / Police

CRASH project roll out – more accurate electronic data capture by Police

– Accident profiling based on Police National Crime Model

- victim / perpetrator / location / time

Collection-analysis-causation identification-likelihood prediction-target action

– Predictive Analysis Project (PAP) sponsored by DfT – in depth analysis of links between crime and the likelihood of being involved in collisions.

– University of Sheffield reviewing local hospital admissions data for road casualties

The Future (2)

• Funding and Governance Challenge

– General budget reductions, staff reductions – Speed awareness / driver improvement courses– LSTF– City Region Transport Authority?

• Highways Maintenance PFI – Safety Benefits

– Improved road surfaces– Lighting transformed– Lines / signs ~

The Future (3)

• Keep delivering ‘One Message’ approach – driven by newly appointed SY Safer Roads Education Manager. Supported by four Road Safety Officers operating Countywide.

• Local Police Inspectors engaging with schools to reduce speeds and improve safety in their areas. Work with PCSOs, investment in speed radar guns.

• Develop campaign to improve driving safety whilst at work (LSTF supported)

• Citywide roll out 20mph speed limit areas. One per each of the 7 Community Assemblies incorporating ‘hearts and minds’ Campaign. Developing the message with Core Cities.

• Develop further psychological initiatives

For more information www.Sheffield.gov.uk/futureroadsafety