Neighbourhood road safety programme

The neighbourhood road safety campaign initiated by the traffic authority of New South Wales was one of the first attempts to undertake an education programme to increase community awareness of local street safety problems. Although the short term results could not demonstrate a significant increase in general community awareness of the problem or changes in driver behaviour, the campaign was able to point the way towards the future. The campaign had the effect of focussing attention on speeding as a local safety problem. In turn, it also had the effect of making certain traffic control devices more acceptable to the public. This initiative needs to be reinforced through further physical and legislative change. The introduction by the traffic authority of 40 km/h speed limits on a trial basis in selected Sydney precincts in early 1986 is an example of the next step in this process. Elements of the neighbourhood road safety campaign could be effectively used by councils to support locally organised road safety initiatives, such as the introduction of a local area traffic management (LATM) scheme. The traffic authority has prepared a step by step kit which describes a recommended campaign which could be applied in neighbourhoods or on a more general community basis. Traffic professionals need to be actively involved in these activities. Traffic planners should become the leaders in promoting safer neighbourhood streets. Concurrently, residents must be shown that safer streets also require their efforts to drive more slowly and with greater care.