Practical steps in enhancing road safety: Lessons from the Road safety in 10 countries project in the Russian Federation (2015)

2015

This report describes an intersectoral road safety project implemented in two regions of the Russian Federation, Lipetsk and Ivanovo, between 2010 and 2014. 

Best practices identified from the global literature were used to target behaviour change in road users with regard to three main factors which influence outcomes in road traffic accidents – speed, wearing seat-belts and use of child restraints. The activities comprised social marketing, coupled with enhanced enforcement, and resulted in increases in the use of seat-belts and child restraints by 25–41 and 33–69 percentage points respectively and reduced speeding by 8–17 percentage points, as assessed by regular roadside measurements. Capacity-building workshops were held for traffic police and administrators and first aid training was provided for traffic police and at driving schools. The project structure, main achievements and lessons learned are discussed. 

The experience from this project, and in particular the social marketing, evaluation and training materials developed, would be valuable for road safety authorities, regional road safety managers and local authorities that would like to implement similar activities. Materials developed in the Russian language are available on the project website.