A Proposed Framework for Evaluation of Road Safety Strategy Outcomes

Road safety strategies have been developed and implemented in jurisdictions across Australasia to focus efforts and resources with the goal of achieving set targets for road trauma reduction. Evaluations of specific programs implemented as part of road safety strategies are common. Rarely however is the success of the road safety strategy as a whole evaluated in a comprehensive and systematic manner. This paper details the development of a comprehensive framework for road safety strategy outcome evaluation. The evaluation framework proposed is based on the GOSPA framework of defining a road safety strategy formulation. The GOSPA framework defines a pyramid of increasing detail in defining the elements of a road safety strategy. The top of the pyramid defines the broad goals for which the strategy is aiming (Goals) whilst the next level down gives specific measurable targets (Objectives) against which the goals can be assessed. The Strategies area of the framework typically defines the target areas on which the road safety strategy will focus to achieve its goals along with local objectives within each target area that will jointly contribute to achieving the global objectives. Finally the Programs and Actions areas contain the specific details on the type of activities to be carried out in each target area and the amount of effort that will be applied to each activity.

The evaluation framework developed mirrors the pyramid structure defined under the GOSPA framework. It is designed to assess the progress of the strategy against the pre-determined goals and objectives at various levels of detail through a multi-tiered modelling approach. Each proposed tier of evaluation focuses on a specific level of disaggregation of the strategy elements corresponding to particular levels of the GOSPA framework pyramid. Examples of application of the framework are demonstrated on the 1993-2003 Queensland Road Safety Strategy. Its potential for general application to other road safety strategies is discussed along with the potential use of the framework for forward planning of evaluation activity including resources allocation and data requirements.