The MAST Online project team has released a new dashboard which allows local authorities to compare in-year trends using the 2015 provisional dataset released by the DfT.
Created by Road Safety Analysis (RSA), MAST Online is a tool for analysing road casualty trends and the impact of residence, social and demographic factors on casualty rates. Many UK local authority highway authorities use MAST to plan, develop and evaluate road safety interventions.
The new MAST Provisional dashboard offers a quick insight into the emerging trends in the first half of this year.
The dashboard shows eight gauges for various road user groups including child casualties, pedal cycle user casualties and young driver collision involvement, highlighting the percentage change from the first half of the previous year (2014) to the first half of the current year (2015).
The percentage change nationally and regionally is also shown. The local authority district in which the collisions occurred can be changed via the drop down box to the top of the screen, as can the comparison period.
The comparison period options are, the same period (the first half of the year in this instance) of the previous year, the average over the first half of the most recent five years (2010-2014) and the average over the first half of the five years previous to this (2005-2009).
The dashboard will be updated following the release of the July to September data to include data from the first three quarters of 2015.
For more information about Mast Online contact Richard Owen at RSA.
A dashboard allows an indication of events, but not the causes. Does this further allow misinterpretations? If an oil warning light comes on, is it the switch that has failed, low oil in the sump, or a pipe fractured? Such a dashboard may seem instructive, but the root causes need to be examined in all cases for an accurate diagnosis.
Derek Reynolds, Salop.
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