The first week of the Festival of Road Safety proved a resounding success, with the event website receiving an average of more than 600 views per day.
The four-week Festival, which takes place between 1-26 November, is being organised by Road Safety GB and sponsored by Jenoptik.
Among the highlights of the first week were two keynote presentations, the first of which was delivered by Michael McDonnell, director of Road Safety Scotland.
In his presentation, titled ‘Developing safe road users through lifelong learning’, Michael stresses the importance of road safety professionals understanding how children learn, and the developmental process of the child and young brain.
The second keynote of the week, delivered live by Richard Owen, CEO of Agilysis, posed the question: has the pandemic had an impact on the role of the road safety officer, and led to a more integrated approach to traffic management?
In answering this, Richard said that huge amounts of money have been invested in active travel – encouraging people to walk and cycle more often – and that road safety officers, with their expertise in behaviour change, are well equipped to play a part in this.
In total, 10 presentations were published during the first week of the Festival, all of which are available to watch via the Festival website.
Edward Seaman, Festival of Road Safety organising committee, said: “We’ve been delighted with the response to the first week of the Festival.
“Much of the credit must go to the speakers, who have delivered some really engaging content, covering a broad range of subjects.
“We’re excited to build on this, heading into week two of the event.”
On the agenda in week two
Week two gets underway at 10am on 8 November, with a keynote presentation from Emma Kelly (development, PR & advocacy manager) and Steve Callaghan (technical support manager & head of calibration), Road Safety Support.
Road Safety Support (RSS) has been working as a central hub for police forces and road safety partnerships for more than 14 years, specialising in enforcement technology and road safety strategy.
The joint presentation is titled ‘Enabling wide-area enforcement through technology’.
Two more keynote presentations follow, the first of which is being delivered by David Crundall, professor of psychology at Nottingham Trent University, at 10am on Tuesday 9 November.
David’s presentation will look at the use of virtual reality (VR) in the future of hazard perception testing and training.
Referencing a project to evaluate the efficacy of VR hazard training and testing, David will look to answer whether the hype around VR justified.
The third keynote of the week – 10am on Wednesday 10 November, will ask ‘what could a Road Collision Investigation Branch in the UK achieve?’.
Delivered by Elizabeth Box, head of research at the RAC Foundation, it is based upon learnings from the DfT and National Highways funded Road Collision Investigation Project.
Other topics covered during week two include the safety of horse riders and 20mph speed limits.
Meanwhile, Thursday and Friday feature four presentations looking at the safety of motorcyclists.
For more information contact either Nick Rawlings or Edward Seaman by email or on 01379 650112.
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