Understanding the public attitudes to road safety. A review of the literature 2000-2009

This paper supports the conclusion of stage one of a project that will provide the
Department for Transport (DfT) with an in-depth understanding of how the public engage
with the issue of road user safety, to help inform development of the Government’s Post- 2010 Road Safety Strategy. It presents an in-depth review of 72 research reviews, reports and journal articles relating to public attitudes to road user safety, concentrating on evidence from the UK dating from the year 2000 onwards.

At the aggregate level there is high support from the public that behaving in a safe manner on the roads is important, and increasing safety through various interventions, including enforcement, engineering and education, is seen as generally acceptable.

In addition, attitudes vary depending upon the context of the research and of the researched. Hence, findings are different when investigating attitudes towards road user safety between a pedestrian and a driver. However, it must be remembered a driver can also be a pedestrian, cyclist or motorcyclist at other times.

Research needs to understand road user attitudes in the context of an individual. Gaps have been identified for further research to be addressed at the latter stages of the research project.