Knowledge Centre launches to acclaim

The Road Safety Knowledge Centre (Knowledge Centre) was officially launched at the Road Safety Delivery Board meeting in London on 15 September.

The Knowledge Centre is a comprehensive online library/directory of road safety information and resources. It replaces Road Safety Time Bank, is owned and managed by Road Safety GB and has been developed with funding provided by DfT.

Information in the Knowledge Centre is presented in two ways: by road safety topic/user type (speed, motorcyclists etc) and by type of activity/intervention (engineering, enforcement, publicity etc). There are currently 349 listings in the Knowledge Centre.

There is also a ‘help’ facility which enables registered users to request advice and assistance from fellow users.

Access to the Knowledge Centre is free of charge and open to all. Currently there are 377 subscribers and 255 member organisations.

A test version of the Knowledge Centre has been running since 2 August and has received almost universal acclaim.

Robert Smith, Dorset’s road safety team manager described the Knowledge Centre as a "great site, easy to use and straightforward to submit and edit knowledge".

Janice Burgess, area safety coordinator, Highways Agency, said: "It looks good and is easy to navigate around the different topics."

Michael Byrne, road safety services manager, Dublin City Council said: “Many congratulations on the design and the information contained therein.”

And Daryl Fraser, senior RSO, Suffolk County Council, added: “This is a brilliant piece of work – very informative and helpful.”

There have also been a number of helpful suggestion from subscribers about possible enhancements. These cover issues including how submissions are evaluated, how information is stored, presented and archived, and how the search facility (which is already impressive) could be further improved.

The project team will review all feedback and suggestions and further enhancements to the Knowledge Centre are likely later in the year.

Click here to access the Road Safety Knowledge Centre or for more information contact Nick Rawlings on 01379 650112.