Road safety data and information availability and priorities in South-East European regions

摘要

While road deaths have been reduced by 53% in the European Union (EU) between 2001 and 2013, in South East European (SEE) members reductions vary from 64% (Slovakia) to 24% (Romania) indicating a significant diversity in the road safety level in the region and the need for urgent improvements. Moreover, the poor performance in the SEE countries is slowing down overall progress at EU level. ROSEE- ROad safety in South-East European regions is an EU co-funded project undertaken in Italy, Romania, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia and Bulgaria. ROSEE aimed at improving coordination in planning and operation of national and regional road networks with an emphasis on improving accessibility and road safety. The objective of this paper is to present the results of a survey conducted among a large panel of road safety stakeholders in SEE countries, aiming at assessing what they considered to be priorities and necessities in terms of scientific data, information, and tools to conduct their road safety activities. A questionnaire comprising of the following sections was used for the assessment:(a) background information;(b) data and resources for fact finding and diagnosis of road safety issues; (c) data and resources for the development of road safety related programmes; (d) data and resources for the implementation of road safety related measures; (e) data and resources for the monitoring and evaluation of road safety measures. In sections (b) to (d), the respondents evaluated each listed item on two dimensions: the perceived priority for their personal work, and the perceived availability at the level of their country (i.e. the extent to which, according to their knowledge, the item in question was available would they want to use it). In total, 112 questionnaires were analysed. Combined priority and availability ratings as well as ranking of priorities and identification of highest priorities per country was achieved. Furthermore, policy makers’ priorities were analysed separately. The analysis of the collected responses revealed that stakeholders expressed significant demand for data and knowledge in road safety-related decision making. They also expressed discontent about the current poor availability of such information. Groupings of the road safety needs and priorities of the different stakeholders were also performed.