Citation

Shuey R. J. Australas. Coll. Road Saf. 2019; 30(1): 58-65.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Australasian College of Road Safety)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper presents a practitioner's perspective of implementing road safety strategies in low and middle-income countries. It identifies a gap in traffic law enforcement capability and describes professional development train the trainer programs to build capacity. The costs and benefits of road safety reform are raised in conjunction with the need to provide adequate funding to support the behavioural change of drivers. Understanding the challenges of piecemeal reform, policing capability, corruption and under-reporting of crashes provides opportunities to use this knowledge to impact behavioural change and road trauma reduction. The findings confirm education and enforcement as a successful methodology for reform as well as the need to create the perception of certainty of being caught and punished when breaking the law.

Key Findings
• The benefits of combining education and enforcement are confirmed in practical applications where behavioural change has been achieved in low and middle-income countries (LMICs);

• A professional development model for traffic police is considered a successful methodology for nation-wide capacity building in LMICs using a practical train the trainer approach where trainers are assessed for their competence and coached through their initial knowledge transfer;

• Quick fix short training sessions do not achieve capacity building outcomes;

• Expenditure on road safety is an investment not a cost in LMICs;

• Police enforcement as demonstrated in a seat-belt wearing intervention is cost effective.

Keywords: Enforcement, Education, Training, Challenges, Perception, Driver Behaviours

Language: en