The growing problem of road traffic injuries requires sustained implementation of intervention measures by different sectors. Availability of information on effective measures is necessary to guide decision making. Rune Elvik and Truls Vaa have made an excellent effort to address this need.
The title of this book can easily mislead the reader—it gives the impression that the book provides guidelines on specific road safety measures. The book does not do this at all. Instead, it describes as objectively as possible what is known about the effects of road safety measures.
This book has four main parts. The first part is introduction, outlining the purpose, structure, methods used, factors contributing to road traffic collisions, basic concepts of road safety, quality of road safety evaluation research, and contribution of research to road safety policy making. The second part provides a description of general purpose policy instruments which affect road safety, including not only road safety legislation, road safety audits, and safe community programs but also the wider policy instruments such as land use plans, road pricing, and motor vehicle taxation. The third part gives details on specific road traffic safety measures: road design and furniture, road maintenance, traffic control, vehicle design and protective devices, vehicle and garage inspection, driver training and regulation of professional drivers, public education and information, police enforcement and sanctions. Part four contains the vocabulary and index (definitions of technical terms and author index are presented). Extensive reference lists are provided in different parts of the book.
Questions that may arise are: What does this book add to existing literature? Don't we know a lot already about effective road safety measures? Don't we have articles on these measures in regular scientific journals? In my view, this book makes three key contributions to evidence and writing style on road safety measures. The first is that it assembles in one comprehensive document existing knowledge on effects of road safety measures. There is information on measures from different sources, such as journal articles and research reports, and this would have required major effort to assemble such information in one document. The book provides information on 14 general policy and 110 specific measures. The spectrum of measures covered is impressive, including such aspects as landuse planning, road safety audits, provision of medical services, road design, road maintenance, traffic control, vehicle design, vehicle inspection, requirements for drivers, road user education, and enforcement.
The second key aspect is that the book is an excellent example of the scientific rigour needed in road safety research. This book is based on extensive review of literature and systematic extraction of information from more than 1700 studies. The methods used are clearly described and the presentation of the main content is well structured into three main parts, each with chapters and good illustrations. Key conceptual and methodological issues such as risk, indicators, causation, and the research‐policy link are clearly discussed in this book. The book is therefore not only a source of knowledge but also an excellent example of a well researched and written road safety document. There is much that both novice and advanced road safety researchers can learn from the scientific rigour in this book.
The third contribution is that the authors have refrained from patronizing the reader. They have avoided recommending any specific measure or slavishly guiding the reader on what to choose. They leave it to the reader to work out specific measures that are relevant to their settings. I think this approach provides opportunities for users to discuss the information presented before deciding on what may be applicable.
I have two main concerns. The first concern is conceptual. The authors have adopted a strong quantitative definition of a road safety measure. Though they justify their choice of this definition, I am of the view that they should have made an effort to include qualitative and perception indicators that are increasingly being used in research and programs, not only in road safety but a number of disciplines. The second concern is on the geographic coverage of studies that are reported. The measures described are largely those that have been implemented in Europe and North America. I hope that future revisions of this book will include studies examining measures being implemented in developing countries. This is a challenge to researchers working in developing countries to evaluate and publish findings on road safety measures that have been implemented in these countries.